FEATHERS IN HIS CAP
On September 30, 1905, Australian bird photographer Alfred Donald Trounson was born. Intrigued by all the Australian bird sounds new to him, Trounson collected birdsong with his tape-recorder. He was invited to play his collection on an Australian radio programme. The program was a hit. If the Australians wanted to hear their own birds sing on radio, Trounson wondered what he might accomplish if bird photographs might also be collected.
These new experiences rekindled the young boy he had been when he’d won a school photo competition. So… on to his next and groundbreaking project.
Trounson built himself a camera gun – with lens and camera mounted on a gunstock complete with his own trigger grip – and set off on a Queensland “safari”.
The resulting photos galvanized him to action: he would photograph all the birds of Australia!
Although his photographs were published and admired, he realized early on that a national photograph collection was beyond his single effort.
Applying his life skills in diplomacy, he involved the Australian Museum to take on a photo compilation of the country’s birds.
Trounson launched the National Photographic Index of Australian Birds as a museum project that eventually grew into the National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife.
In addition to his individual bird portraits, Trounson published books of camera studies and photographic field guides. For his service as the creator of the National Photographic Index, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.
B Bondar