professional photographer and chemist, apparently learned photography in England as well as training there as a pharmacist. He was working as a chemist in Victoria when his photographs of Raglan Castle, Tintern Abbey and other picturesque places in Britain were sent to the 1862 London International Exhibition, having first been shown at the preliminary 1861 Victorian Exhibition. Their quality prompted Perez Mann Batchelder , who apparently saw them in England, to employ Dunn as chief photographer in Batchelder & O’Neill 's Melbourne studio from the beginning of 1863. Dunn’s photographs, above all, were claimed to have won the firm its later artistic reputation.
When the firm of Batchelder & O’Neill was dissolved in 1864, Dunn continued trading as Batchelder & Co. in partnership with J.N. Wilson and John Botterill . James Smith’s The Lambert Album – consisting of sixteen original photographs of the actor J.C. Lambert in various character poses – was published by 'Batchelder & Co. (late Batchelder & O’Neill)’ at Melbourne in 1866. The photographer was undoubtedly Dunn, who later that year won a medal for the firm at the 1866 Melbourne Intercolonial Exhibition with his untouched, coloured and mezzotint 'Portraits … in fancy costume’ and 'Portraits of Governors of Australia’.
Batchelder & Co. continued to operate until 1895, but with other proprietors. Dunn was in partnership with John Gaul as photographers of 75-77 Swanston Street in 1868/1869, then seems to have worked on his own as both a chemist and photographer until his death in 1886. His pharmacy was at Hawthorn, Melbourne.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
