Bavarian photographer Paul Dubotzki documented life in Australian prisoner camps when he was interned at camps in South Australia and NSW during WWI.

This acrobatic display by German internees was captured by Paul in 1918 during his inprisonment at Holsworthy camp in Sydney’s south west.

Internees pose in theatrical costume at the Holsworthy prisoner camp in Sydney’s south west.

Taken between 1915 and 1919, the photograph is one of the Dubotzki collection on display at the Enemy at Home exhibition. Exhibition curator Nadine Helmi says that to pass the time and bolster spirits, the inmates performed theatrical plays and musical events for the amusement of inmates and guards alike.

A rare shot of Paul Dubotzki in front of the lens rather than behind it.

This photograph was taken between 1916 and 1918 during Paul’s stay at the German intern camp in Trial Bay the NSW mid-north coast. Captured in 1915 while on a photographic expedition in Adelaide, he was first sent to Torrens Island camp in South Australia, then to more elite camps at Trial Bay and Berrima gaol in the Southern Highlands.

Paul Dubotzki captures two of his fellow Trial Bay camp prisoners dressing for a theatre performance.

Paul turned his lens towards the camp community and culture of music and theatre that developed around him during his incarceration at Australian WWI prisoner camps from 1915 to 1919.

Paul Dubotzki, himself a prisoner, documented the primitive conditions of Torrens Island internment camp and also the fact that internees, at times, were exposed to abuse at the hands of Australian guards.

Paul Dubotzki photographed a crowd of his fellow inmates at Torrens Island internment camp, South Australia, the first prisoner camp he was sent to after his capture in 1915.

Dated between 1915 and 1916, this photograph belongs to the Dubotzki collection but is not on display in the Enemy at Home exhibition which concentrates on Dubotzki’s later internment in the NSW camps.

Paul Dubotzki documented the appalling living conditions at Torrens Island internment camp. Paul’s photos were used as evidence in a Defence Department inquiry into the camp’s operation which saw internees transferred to camps in NSW. Dated between 1915 and 1916 this photograph is part of the Dubotzki collection.

One of Paul Dubotzki’s early photos documenting the hard life internees had to endure at South Australia’s Torrens Island prisoner camp. Dated between 1915 and 1916 this photograph is part of the Dubotzki collection.