In an earlier post I wrote about my experience of encountering a set of lantern slides and glass plate negatives in the National Library of Australia’s pictorial collection. With no other textual content to speak of provided with this material, the slides offered the unique experience of interpreting the lantern slide collection as a standalone visual argument. In an update to that post I have written a short account of my experience and interpretation of the narrative thread of Lawrence Hargrave’s lantern slides for my colleagues Elisa and Martyn, as part of their project Heritage in the Limelight.
You can download a pdf of Making of an Argument, my short contribution to their ‘My favourite slide’ section, or view it on their project website here: https://cdhr.cass.anu.edu.au/research/projects/heritage-limelight-magic-lantern-australia-and-world.
Image credit: UK Frederick, 2018, Lawrence Hargrave slide collection, courtesy of the National Library of Australia