Jack Cato

JACK CATO 1889-1971
F.R.P.S. 1916.

John Cyril Cato was born near Launceston, Tasmania and was inspired by the career of his cousin, John Watt Beattie, a renowned topographical photographer, from whom Cato learnt the basic chemistry of photography. Around 1909 Cato formally joined Beattie's studio to set up a high-class protrait service. Cato had studied art under Lucien Dechaineux and portraiture under photographers, Percy Whitelaw and John Andrew. Pictorialism had begun to create a taste for more elaborate portrait studies than the cliched 19th century studio shot posed beside prop furniture. Cato was to introduce the new style to Beattie's clients.

From 1909-1913 Cato worked in London, first for Walter H. Barnett the leading society portraitist, and then Claude Harris who specialised in artistic theatre pictures. Later Cato worked as a freelance theatre photographer under the patronage of Dame Nellie Melba.

In 1913, Cato left London to explore the scenic and business possibilities in South Africa. He worked as an expedition photographer for Professor Cory of Grahamstown University and gained a Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1916 for his ethnographic work. After war service in South Africa, Cato returned to Tasmania to recuperate and then set up a studio in Hobart in 1920. Later, in 1927, Cato moved his family to Melbourne where he again was assisted by Dame Nellie Melba's patronage. His studio was one of the best-known for portrait work until 1947 when Cato retired to concentrate on writing The Story of The Camera in Australia (1955), the only history of photography in Australia to date. He was encouraged by the success of his autobiography, I Can Take It (1947).

Cato was not a regular exhibitor at pictorial salons nor did he write reviews on local shows. He preferred to show his work in thematic one man shows.

good article on Jack Cato (with images) here; http://www3.slv.vic.gov.au/latrobejourna...

The dust jacket has always been missing...never knew what it looked like. The cover I've uploaded here is from the Latrobe Journal issue found on the link above..there are few photographs to be found of Jack Cato. (typical of a photographer - more comfortable behind the camera than in front of one)

Don't really know when I finished this book, it was in my grandfather's house and I can remember looking at the photographs as a child in 1969 before I could read a lot of the book - so in essence it was my first photography book.… (más)