This week, just in time for wildflower season Dr Kate immerses us in the beautiful photography of Hilda Wright. Although she taught dressmaking professionally, between 1936 and 1950 Hilda was also a keen (and very skilled) photographer, focussing primarily on Western Australian wildflowers. The State Library holds 1001 black and white negatives, 502 black and white photographs and 199 hand-coloured photographs that Hilda took during this time, featuring 171 species and sub-species of wildflower, including banksia, boronia, grevillea, orchids, acacia and many others - all of which have been labelled with botanical descriptions.
Hilda's work was acknowledged both here and internationally. In 1937 forty of her coloured photographs were displayed in the Kodak Gallery, Perth. 125 prints were exhibited in England in 1938: at Hatfield House, the Royal Institute, the Linnaean Society, and at the Royal Horticultural Society where she was awarded a Grenfell medal twice, in 1938 and again in 1950.(silver) for the collection. She was again awarded a Grenfell medal (bronze) in 1950. In August 1939 she was the first Western Australian woman to be& elected an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society.
Hilda Wright died in 1990.
Search the catalogue for the Hilda Wright collection and to see the other photographs online.
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Recorded live on ABC Radio Perth on 18 August 2020.