I can fit optical finders to both the Leica and the Ricoh, but the little m4/3 GM1 - which I will be covering in more detail soon - has no accessory shoe, therefore no opportunity to fix a finder. I’m not entirely true to my convictions because I do own three little cameras without built-in finders - the trusty old Leica X1, the Ricoh GR and a recent acquisition - by chance as it happens - the Panasonic Lumix GM1. I’m a great fan of viewfinders and have often said I wouldn’t buy another camera without either an optical or electronic finder built into the body. Many cringe at the thought of holding a camera at arm’s length. Yet for photographers brought up on viewfinders it is hard to see the benefits of screen composition. With the universal popularity of smartphone photography there is a whole generation of snappers content to compose on a screen instead of peering through a viewfinder. The little Ricoh doesn’t look much different to a smartphone in use but it is lightyears ahead in photographic capability (willing subject in this shot is Mykonos-based photographer Vlasis Hatzialexandrou)

Yet Mike was able to get ever so close with the little 28mm Ricoh GR while posing as an innocent tourist, peering at the rear screen from afar. Just as your photo albums, whether physical or digital, tell your story, this remarkably wide-ranging collection of images serves as a valuable aide to help us understand our country and its people.Obviously a pro, but get this lens two feet from your nose and you might well feel intimidated.

The world was changing and photographers had acquired a bigger toolbox of techniques and approaches to record these changes.Īccompanying an exhibition of the same name, Viewfinder is a wide-ranging representation of the Australian experience. The last half-century saw the acceptance of photography as an art form, as well as astounding changes in technology – particularly the increased use of colour and digital by professionals and amateurs alike. Our relationship and attitudes to the environment have also changed, particularly as we continue to move away from the bush to the big coastal cities and become more aware of the threat of climate change.Īlong with these social changes, the nature of photography has also evolved. Waves of protest during these decades, as well as an increasing cultural diversity thanks to immigration from all around the world, have made us more accepting of, and willing to celebrate, difference. The way we work and play has changed, as well as our very idea of Australian identity.

These images, ranging from the 1970s to the present day, also tell the fascinating story of the changing nature of photography as a medium to record our lives.Īustralia has changed radically in the last half-century – economically and culturally, we have opened our arms to the world. Viewfinder is a dynamic and insightful look at how Australia has changed over the last 50 years, through a survey of photographs from the National Library of Australia’s collection.

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Viewfinder photography