About the Collections

About the Collections

Photographs

The Photograph Collection contains almost one million images, covering the experience of Australians at war and Australian military history from the 1860s to the present.

The core of the collection consists of photographs that were taken by more than 200 official war and Service photographers; many more photographs have been donated by servicemen and servicewomen or by their families over a period of more than 90 years. The Memorial continues to actively collect photographs that convey the experience of Australians at war.

Since the First World War, the Memorial has also sought to collect a photograph of every person on the Roll of Honour: please see more information on the Roll of Honour photographs project.

Highlights of the collection include:

• Photographs of Gallipoli taken by soldier photographers during the campaign
• rare First World War colour images, taken using the Paget process
• original glass-plate negatives of the Western Front and Palestine in the First World War, taken by Australian official photographers Frank Hurley and Hubert Wilkins
• iconic images of the Second World War in the Middle East and the Pacific, by official photographers including Damien Parer and George Silk
• an extensive photographic documentation of conflicts since 1945, including the Korean and Vietnam wars
• work by leading contemporary photojournalists covering recent deployments of Australian forces

The collection provides vital historical evidence for locations where Australians have fought; details of military technology; and scenes of Australian military operations. It contains portraits of many thousands of Australian servicemen and servicewomen, including many who lost their lives while on active service. It also contains moving images that graphically convey the dangers of war and the emotional impact it has on its participants.

An illustrated history of the Photograph Collection, Contact: Photographs from the Australian War Memorial Collection, is available from the Memorial Shop.

Access to the collection

Hundreds of thousands of our photographs, as well as catalogue records for some photographs that have been catalogued but not yet digitised, are available for consultation online through our Collections Search database. Reproductions of these photographs may be ordered online, subject to copyright authorisation; user fees apply for commercial use. For more information please see How to order photos, art, film & sound.
Please be aware that some images may be disturbing or explicit, and that the language contained in captions can reflect attitudes and prejudices prevalent at the time the photographs were taken.
We are always seeking to improve the quality and accuracy of the caption information in our collection. If you have additional information, corrections, or comments concerning the captions to our photographs, please contact us at photographs@awm.gov.au