Design and Art Australia Online

government photographer and printer, was presumably the eldest son of John Sharkey, the foreman of works in the Colonial Architect’s Department at Hyde Park, Sydney from about 1841. John Sharkey junior may have worked as a printer in Melbourne in the early 1860s since a litho-printer referred to as John 'Sharkie’ gave evidence to the Victorian Parliamentary Board appointed to investigate the photolithographic process invented in Melbourne by J.W. Osborne and may have been invited down from Sydney to testify. By 1863 John Sharkey was certainly employed as a copperplate printer in the New South Wales Department of Works. Later in the decade the government printer asked him to investigate and adapt Osborne’s photolithographic process and so evade the patent fees (which in New South Wales were paid to Osborne’s former assistant, Duncan McHutchison). After experimenting for a year or more, Sharkey invented his own form of photolithography. It differed from Osborne’s by eliminating the need to ink the negative before printing, thus speeding up the process. As a result he was appointed manager of the Government Printing Office’s photolithographic branch when it was set up in 1869.

Two examples of Sharkey’s 'new’ photolithographic process, a print after an engraving of Sir Charles Eastlake’s Byron’s Dream and another after a Titian Adoration , were shown at the 1870 Sydney Intercolonial Exhibition. The Sydney Mail judged them to be 'amongst the finest specimens of the photo-lithographic art ever turned out’. Sharkey was awarded a silver medal by the New South Wales Agricultural Society 'on account of the originality, utility and excellence’ of his invention, the jurors being of the opinion that the specimens he had exhibited possessed 'a clearness and brilliance of unusual merit’.

At the end of 1874 the Illustrated Sydney News mentioned that Sharkey had attempted to photograph the transit of Venus 'in company with Rev. W. Scott’. Both were members of a massive expedition mounted by the Government Observatory, which sent four parties of scientists, surveyors, observers and photographers to various points on the eastern coast of Australia in November to observe the phenomenon. Provision was made for over 2000 photographs to be taken. Sharkey was the official photographer at the Eden observation post on the south coast of New South Wales. Joseph Bischoff went to Woodford in the Blue Mountains and A. Tornaghi was the photographer with the Goulburn party. A fourth expedition was mounted in Tasmania, but the results were disappointing.

In 1873 Sharkey’s home address was Elliott Street, Balmain, but by 1880 he was at Glenmore Road, Paddington. He worked for the government all his life, as printer, photolithographer and photographer, remaining head of the Photographic Branch of the Government Printing Office until 1896. As official government photographer to the 1870 Intercolonial Exhibition, Sharkey (and his staff) photographed the buildings and exhibits and began taking a series of photographs of streets and buildings in Sydney, often employing a wide-angle lens to dramatic effect. In 1875 his office had a staff of seven; by 1889 this had increased to twenty-one. Shown under the auspices of the Government Printing Office, Sharkey’s photographs at the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition included a panoramic view of the exhibition building 'embracing from Dawes’ Battery to Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair’ together with views of the Garden Palace. He subsequently provided a comprehensive set of photographs of the exhibition itself. The Government Printing Office was represented at many other exhibitions with examples of printing, bookbinding and photography, including the 1887 Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition for which a 'very large and attractive’ collection of photographs was prepared, including scenes of the Jenolan Caves and 'a splendid panoramic view of Sydney, taken from the top of the Government Printing Office’ about 8 feet (2.43 m) long. A very large collection of Sharkey and his staff’s glass-plate negatives now forms the Sharkey Collection of the New South Wales Government Printing Office (lodged ML). Most aspects of public life in New South Wales are covered.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011