Edwin J. Welch Edwin J. Welch i(A131551 works by) (a.k.a. Edwin James Welch)
Also writes as: Alwyn Alverstoke, ; Edwin Halstead
Gender: Male
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1 Cressy Bend Edwin Halstead , 1915 single work novel
1 y separately published work icon Australasian Photo-Review APR Edwin J. Welch (editor), Alfred Allen (editor), Walter Burke (editor), 1895 Sydney : Baker and Rouse , 1895-1956 Z1326179 1895 periodical

This journal began life as the Australian version of the British Photographic Review of Reviews, imported by the photographic supply company Baker & Rouse. Some thirty-five pages of international journal reprints and commentary was complemented by around ten pages of local copy. Its motto was 'Non Progredi est Regredi,' which it explained: 'new processes, ingenious appliances, and cunning wrinkles for the production of novel effects, are matters of everyday revelation both in the scientific and mechanical branches of the photographic art. To be ignorant of these is most certainly to go backward.' The British material and reports from around the world covered reviews of exhibitions, technical information, and a broad and heterogeneous collection of photographs as art. The Australian material included discussion of photographers' prices and the need for professional co-operation and unity. There was correspondence, biographical sketches, competitions, and local photographic illustrations. In January 1895, only the title changed; all else remained the same, including the incorporation of the Review of Reviews.

The magazine included considerable discussion of spirit or spook photography, the Roentgen Ray, various forms of moving pictures, and similar inventions. It also reported on photography's use in various fields: microbiology, criminology, anthropology, and tourism. The journal carried photographs of the Boer War, Federation, the great drought, and other major events, as well as artistic studies. It railed against the Kodak Company's attempt at monopoly, and instituted a sale and exchange service for photographic equipment. However, after April 1905, when Baker & Rowse became the sole agency in Australia for Kodak, complaints stopped and advertising increased.

Edwin J. Welch (q.v.) was founding editor (1894-1899), followed by Alfred Allen (q.v.) (1899-1905), who was replaced long-term by Walter Burke (q.v.). Under Burke, the journal was made over, with new printers and fine art paper 'so that high-grade illustrations can be used in the text as well as on special pages'.

1 y separately published work icon Photographic Review of Reviews Edwin J. Welch (editor), 1894 Sydney : Baker and Rouse , 1894 Z1326066 1894 periodical

Editor's comment on the magazine's motto, Non Progredi est Regredi: 'New processes, ingenious appliances, and cunning wrinkles for the production of novel effects, are matters of everyday revelation both in the scientific and mechanical branches of the photographic art. To be ignorant of these is most assuredly to go backwards'.

The magazine published articles and paragraphs from English and international photographic magazines, as well as a smaller number of Australian stories. It profiled professional identities, published photographers' prices and their works, and urged professional unity and co-operation. It ran competitions for various styles of photograph.

The magazine ran articles on the kinetoscope and its first showing in Sydney, and sat securely on the fence on the question of spirit photography.

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