TLF ID R3164
This is a gelatin silver-toned composite photograph measuring 32 cm x 25.5 cm, created by E.W. Searle. The Avro-10 Southern Sun plane piloted by Charles Ulm celebrated the arrival in Sydney of aviatrix Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Amy Johnson had crash landed in Brisbane and was flown to Sydney by Ulm. The image shows the plane flying over the partially constructed Sydney Harbour Bridge, escorted by a biplane. The view is from the northwest, probably McMahons Point. In the foreground, the image shows a ship docked at the bridge construction workshops wharf. East Circular Quay wharf, the Bennelong Point tram sheds, Government House and Farm Cove are all in the background. This asset demonstrates a creative photographic technique called montage, in which the images of the aeroplanes have been superimposed on an aerial photograph of Sydney Harbour taken in about June 1930. The depicted flight over the bridge never happened: the flattened tyres and immobile propeller on the 'Southern Sun' in the foreground indicate that the aeroplane was probably photographed on the ground. It suggests the investigative skills needed to accurately date some historical images. Hall and Co created the composite photograph in 1931 but by that year the arch on the Sydney Harbour Bridge was joined and the creeper cranes were no longer in place.