Capturing Nature | Early scientific photography at the Australian Museum 1857-1893 diplodocus Curious about the Laughing Kookaburra

Curious about the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)

fibre art and screen-printed fabrics

central and northern Western Australia and Central Northern Territory

Cast to human scale

Capturing Nature | Early scientific photography at the Australian Museum 1857-1893 diplodocus Curious about the Laughing KookaburraIn the mid 19th century, scientists around the world were quick to see photography's huge potential for capturing fleeting moments of life, death and discovery. At the Australian Museum, curator Gerard Krefft and taxidermist Henry Barnes began to experiment with the revolutionary new art form, preparing and staging their specimens from whales and giant sunfish to lifelike lyre bird scenes and fossils and documenting them in thousands of arresting