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History & Culture

The Digger’s view: WWI photos in colour

Monochrome images of war-torn landscapes, of dark skies and mud-laden boots trigger a distant memory of a bygone era. But not anymore. For over five years, policeman Juan Mahony persevered to revitalise a collection of World War I images, in colour, to make this slice of our history more accessible. Working alongside a team of digital artists, he made many visits to museums, studying original army uniforms and equipment from the Australian War Memorial, to achieve a real-life colour representation of individual soldiers and their stories. Juan was inspired by the 1916 death of his great uncle on the Western Front to get every detail right. He published the images in his book: The Digger’s View.

History & Culture

Memory keepers: Soldier’s personal photos of WWI

Anzac troops heading into conflict went armed with more than weapons. The invention of the Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) camera, small enough to fit into the pocket of a soldier’s tunic, enabled troops to capture the true face of war. Here are some of their personal images.

History & Culture

Making the Australian Geographic icon coin

For our 100th issue in October 2010, we invited celebrated Sydney artist Jim Tsinganos to weave a list of 100 national icons into a painting that would artfully incorporate all our true blue Australian emblems into a single image. In late 2013, the icons poster was spotted by a team of coin developers at the Australian Mint, led by creative director Frederica Heacock, who were working towards a new collectors’ coin that would reflect Aussie culture. Rendering a large and detailed image onto a 38mm coin while remaining faithful to the original idea proved a challenge. The coin set has been christened Distinctly Australian and was launched on Australia Day this year. There are only 30,000 available.

Science & Environment

Gallery: documenting the recovery of an iconic wetland

These images are part of a larger project documenting the transition of the Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve from a parched desert, at the height of the millennium drought, to a soaked oasis. The photos reveal a revival of the local flora and fauna – flooded forests, colonies of breeding waterbirds, turtles, snakes and, of course, fish.