# Ernest Gall

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ernest_Gall
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ernest_Gall.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Gall
> Source revision: 1346821128
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Australian commercial photographer (1863–1925)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
'''Ernest Gall''' (14 April 1863 – 19 April 1925) was a prolific commercial photographer in [Adelaide](/source/Adelaide), [South Australia](/source/South_Australia), who was praised for the artistic quality of his work.

==History==
Gall, a son of printer [David Gall](/source/David_Gall_(printer)), first came to public notice in 1889 with a series on the newly-developed irrigation colony at [Renmark](/source/Renmark%2C_South_Australia).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47052659 |title=The Australian Irrigation Colonies |newspaper=[South Australian Register](/source/South_Australian_Register) |location=South Australia |date=8 February 1889 |access-date=14 December 2019 |page=5 |via=Trove }}</ref> 
He was previously employed as assistant to [McLean Brothers, Rigg and Co.](/source/McLean_Brothers%2C_Rigg_and_Co.), ironmongers in [Hindley Street](/source/Hindley_Street%2C_Adelaide), but finding the work tiresome, decided to turn his hobby of photography into a full-time occupation.

He was the first in South Australia to do [half-tone](/source/half-tone) prints.
He was successful in supplying photographs for illustrated catalogues.

He was one of the oldest members of the [South Australian Photographic Society](/source/South_Australian_Photographic_Society), having joined before 1889. From around 1900 he was mostly involved in judging and exhibiting non-competitively.

By 1893 he was working for [Walter Scott-Barry](/source/Walter_Scott-Barry),<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47052659 |title=The Brighton Asylum |newspaper=[South Australian Register](/source/South_Australian_Register) |location=South Australia |date=8 February 1889 |access-date=14 December 2019 |page=5 |via=Trove }}</ref> (c. 1849 – 5 October 1911) ex-Government photographer who had studios at 146 [Rundle Street](/source/Rundle_Street%2C_Adelaide) from 1890 to 1896, moved to [Mount Gambier](/source/Mount_Gambier), then [Warrnambool, Victoria](/source/Warrnambool%2C_Victoria).

In 1894 he made a glass-plate copy of [Henry Jones](/source/Henry_Jones_(photographer))'s [https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+631/3 1872 mosaic collection of Old Colonists], in which 24 portraits are somewhat different from Jones's original held by the State Library. The circumstances around this work are not explained.

By 1895 he had his own studio in [Grenfell Street](/source/Grenfell_Street%2C_Adelaide), later at Alma Chambers in [Pirie Street](/source/Pirie_Street%2C_Adelaide), and was official photographer for many high-profile events, including balls at Government House and at Federation conventions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article34577280 |title=Photographing the Convention |newspaper=[The Advertiser (Adelaide)](/source/The_Advertiser_(Adelaide)) |location=South Australia |date=23 March 1897 |access-date=14 December 2019 |page=4 |via=Trove }}</ref>
In 1898 he began using [flash](/source/Flash_(photography)) illumination.

In later years he concentrated on portraiture, working from a studio at his home, "Woodbridge" at Tynte Street east, North Adelaide.
He was active in promoting North Adelaide as a part of the city, rather than a suburb.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129714738 |title=Death of Mr. Ernest Gall |newspaper=[The News (Adelaide)](/source/The_News_(Adelaide)) |location=South Australia |date=21 April 1925 |access-date=13 December 2019 |page=9 |via=Trove }}</ref>
It was there he died, on 19 April 1925. Though courteous and urbane, he was of a shy and retiring nature, played no part in public affairs,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63706830 |title=Obituary |newspaper=[The Register (Adelaide)](/source/The_Register_(Adelaide)) |location=South Australia |date=20 April 1925 |access-date=14 December 2019 |page=9 |via=Trove }}</ref> and never married.

==Publications==
*''Gall's Glimpses of Adelaide and South Australia'' Hussey & Gillingham (1902) "an exquisitely printed reproduction of 80 of the beautifully clear and artistic views of architecture and out-of-door scenes for which Mr. Ernest Gall is famed as a photographer."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56259840 |title=Review |newspaper=[The Register (Adelaide)](/source/The_Register_(Adelaide)) |location=South Australia |date=20 October 1902 |access-date=14 December 2019 |page=4 |via=Trove }}</ref>
*''[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/213577717 Gall's South Australian Scenes]'' (1904) "a companion booklet to ''Gall's Glimpses of Adelaide and South Australia''"

==Legacy==
The [State Library of South Australia](/source/State_Library_of_South_Australia) holds a [https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/find/Gall%2C+Ernest large collection of his historic photographs], mostly of buildings, taken 1889–1910, particularly the earlier date.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gall, Ernest}}
Category:Australian photographers
Category:1863 births
Category:1925 deaths
Category:Colony of South Australia people

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ernest Gall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Gall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Gall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.