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Camera Natura (1986)

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clip 'An ignored character attains a history'

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

A staged scene in which a landscape painting of Thomas Watling, a convict indentured as the colony’s artist, is superimposed on the photographic image. An actor plays Watling on assignment under guard in the countryside. The actor reads an extract from Watling’s letters on the soundtrack.

Curator’s notes

by Bruce Hodsdon

Watling was ordered to provide a vision of the new English possession ‘that is comprehensible to the king and his subjects’. His letters, published subsequently as a book, have been described by Gibson as the most underestimated of all the early books that resulted from ‘the Europeans’s experiences of the first decade of life in white Australia’. This clip conveys, in words and images, something of the pressures placed on Watling as both a convict and an alien presence in the landscape who nevertheless ‘attains a history’ through his painting and writing.

Ross Gibson published 'A Commentary on Thomas Watling’s Letters from an Exile at Botany-Bay' in his essay collection South of the West: Postcolonialism and the Narrative Construction of Australia (1992).

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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