A Frontier Journey: photographs by Otto Tschirn 1915–18

Otto Tschirn's images give a remarkable insight into the social world of the changing Central Australian frontier during the early years of the 20th century.

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Western Aranda

Ntulya nhanha ntjarrala ntilama yia imangkinya Otto Tschirn-akanha itatha, nhakanha era naka arrkula 20th century-nga pmara Central Australian frontier-la.

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Arltamarltama Tschirn era urrkapumala naka inangkarla pa kaltja nthurra. Rilha pa lintarra ikuranha kaltjirraka. 

 

English

Tschirn’s captivating and skilfully composed images provide a visual record of everyday interactions between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people living in Hermannsburg (Ntaria) and along the Finke River Valley of Central Australia a century ago.

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The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory would like to acknowledge Ian Anderson and the Tschirn family for their kind permission to reproduce the Central Australian photographs of Otto Tschirn in this exhibition. MAGNT would like to thank Rhonda Inkamala for her Western Aranda translation.

 

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors, please be advised that deceased people are represented throughout this exhibition.

 

All visitors, please be aware that racist or derogatory language from historical documents are included in the exhibition. Such language does not reflect the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory’s viewpoint but rather the social attitudes and circumstances of the historical period in which it was created. Retaining it, however, helps us to understand the lived experience of those times.

 

 

Image: Otto Tschirn ‘Camel Mail’, 1915 - 18. Image: Courtesy Ian Anderson and the Tschirn family. © Tschirn estate.