From hospitals to Hollywood stars and beyond: A trailblazing photographer examines his legacy
The air is frigid but the mood is warm as Mervyn Bishop makes his way into the nondescript warehouse in industrial Alexandria. The man is a celebrated photojournalist, the first Indigenous professional news photographer; the room is the archive of The Sydney Morning Herald, home to newspapers dating from 1831, along with photographs and boxes of negatives. Bishop, 80, had two stints at the Herald between 1963 and 1986, from mixing chemicals and glazing prints in the darkroom as a cadet, to taking arresting front-page images. One of these is among the first items on show as Bishop visits the archives for a tour that coincides with a major retrospective of his work at the State Library of NSW. A red, bound volume of broadsheet newspapers reveals the edition of January 22, 1971. Bishop lifts the corner of the page, focuses and thinks back. He and a reporter heard via police radio that a mother was speeding through the city after suspecting her children had overdosed on prescription pills. The police escorted them to St Margaret’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, where a nurse was waiting. So was Bishop, camera primed to give him the best chance at capturing the moment the three-year-old was swept up and rushed inside. Bishop turns the page to reveal the sequel. A policeman has an arm around the mother as she walks into the hospital. The boy not only survived but grew to become a doctor. Bishop won the Nikon News Photographer of the Year Award for 1971, the prize that later merged with the Walkley Awards. The photographer and his subject met years later at an exhibition.