A singular photograph: Olive Cotton's Sea's awakening

Abstract

In 1937 Australian photographer Olive Cotton photographed the sea from the headland at Newport Beach, producing Sea's awakening, one of the most sublime images of her career. This essay considers the photograph in depth as part of an ongoing search for developing alternative means of analysing and interpreting photographs. It is premised on the conviction that photographic history is limited as a means of illumination and uses an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from other fields including social history and biography. In addition, concerns with gender, materiality and narrative are explored. The aim of the essay is not to fix the meaning of Sea's awakening, rendering it static but to mobilise it. Show more