Curio

State Library of New South Wales
Katoomba St. & Clouds, Katoomba

Katoomba St. & Clouds, Katoomba

c. 1915
SPF / 1915
Photoprint

The photographer Harry Phillips (1873-1944) was known for his atmospheric images of the Blue Mountains during the early 20th century. Inspired by the area’s dramatic landscape, Phillips was most passionate about the clouds and mist in the mountains, which became hallmarks of his work.

Born in Ballarat, Phillips worked as a printer in Victoria, Perth and Sydney, before an injury caused him to lose his job in 1908. Unemployed and despondent, he visited Katoomba to recuperate from his injuries, however the Blue Mountains landscape made such an impression on him, he decided to settle there permanently. Harry began experimenting with photography and opened a business in Katoomba Street in 1909. Combining his skill as a printer with his talent for photography, he produced a series of popular Blue Mountains viewbooks and postcards, which have become collector’s items in recent years.

In 1914 Harry Phillips published a series of his Blue Mountains cloud studies titled The Cloud to illustrate a poem of the same name by English poet Percy Shelley (1792-1822.) 

Author Delia Falconer’s first novel, The Service of Clouds (Picador, 1997) was inspired by the life and work of Harry Phillips. The book’s main character Harry Kitchings is based loosely on Phillips.

Harry Phillips was a friend of photographer and film-maker Frank Hurley (1885-1962) who shared his fascination with clouds. They worked together on several projects, the last being a film promoting Blue Mountains tourism called Treasures of Katoomba in 1936.