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Les origines (1862-1895)

Fils d'un coloriste, Henry, Walter Barnett quitte l'école à l'âge de 13 ans et va commencer sa carrière photographique comme assistant de studio de Robert Stewart (Bourke Street) vers 1875 où il fait la connaissance du futur peintre Tom Roberts. On doit à l'historien Jack Cato des informations, qu'il faut considérer avec prudence, sur les débuts professionnels d'Henry, Walter Barnett :

In 1875, when he was 13 years old he was apprentices to Stewart's of Bourke Street, Melbourne, as a studio assistant. He was never in their workrooms. It was his sole duty to assist the operator until such time as he could himself operate. Five years later when he felt he could make a start on his own, he found a partner named Reece [sic] who knew all the technical side of the craft, and they borrowed finance to open a studio in Macquarie Street, Hobart.
There, in a small city, Walter spent a couple of years acquiring facility and confidence in his operating, then he sold out to Reece.

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CATO, 1955: 90.

En [1882], il ouvre, à Hobart, un studio avec Harold Rise avec lequel il crée la marque "Rise and Barnett". Le partenariat prend fin le 31 août 1883.

The Mercury, Hobart, mercredi 23 janvier 1884, p. 3.

Henry Walter Barnett quitte l'Australie pour se rendre en Grande-Bretagne où il perfectionne son métier auprès des célèbres photographes William et Daniel Downey. Il est de retour à Melbourne en décembre 1886 :

PASSENGERS FROM LONDON.
The following passengers had booked in London up to Oct. 15, to proceed to Australia per R.M.S. Rome, which arrived last Monday: For Melbourne: [...] Mr. H. W. Barnett.

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The Inquirer and Commercial News, Perth, mercredi 1^er décembre 1886, p. 4.

 En 1887, Henry Walter Barnett ouvre, à Sydney l'établissement photographique "Falk's" :

My brother, you know, Walter Barnett, founded Falk's in Sydney, and then created the title now so widely known. That was in 1886, and in 1892 he opened the Melbourne branch. He and Jefferson Jackson, a fine fellow, now in Sydney, brilliant architect to his finger-tips, designed the studio as you see it. The scheme cost between three and four thousand to complete. Meanwhile, I was printer for the firm, and, by Jove, how I did have to work! Under Walter it was no joke. He was so exacting, so artistically conscientious, a master in this art, for photography to him is an art, as it is also to me.

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Critic, Adelaide, samedi 16 décembre 1899, p. 45.

En juillet 1890, il dépose le nom de marque "Vitagraph" :

[5719] Registrar General's Office,
Sydney, 17th July, 1890.
TRADE-MARK
IT is hereby notified that Henry Walter Barnett (trading as Falk & Co.), of 496, George-street, in the City of Sydney, Colony of New South Wales, has, in pursuance of the 4th section of the Trade-marks Act 28 Vic. Nº. 9, applied to register a Trade-mark of the following description, viz.:-The word "Vitagraph,"-copies of which may be seen at this Office, and which Trade-mark is intended by the said Henry Walter Barnett (trading as Falk & Co.) to be applied to photographs.
Notice is hereby given that unless it be shown to my satisfaction, before the expiration of fourteen days from the publication, hereof, that such Trade-mark has been previously registered, or that some other person is entitled to such Trade-mark, or that such Trade-mark is so like some other Trade-mark that it may be mistaken for the same, a certificate will, in pursuance of the provisions of the said Ait, be issued to Henry Walter Barnett (trading as Falk & Co.), certifying that he is entitled to the use of the same.
CHARLES PINHEY,
Registrar General.

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New South Wales Government Gazette, Sydney, vendredi 18 juillet 1890, p. 5538.

 À l'occasion de sa tournée australienne, l'actrice française Sarah Bernhardt se fait photographier par "Falk":

The following brief letter has been received by Falk, the Australian photographic artist, from Mme. Sarah Bernhardt: "I thank you a thousand and thousand times for the adorable and artistic photographs which you have made of me; they are the prettiest, and most faithful. I take both your hands and tell you once more thanks and au revoir."

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Evening News, Sydney, vendredi 14 août 1891, p. 6.

Falk Studio, Sarah Bernhardt, Sydney, 1891.
Source: National Portrait Gallery

C'est à la même époque qu'Henry Walter Barnett part pour les États-Unis à bord du Monowai (août 1891) avec l'intention de se renseigner sur le projet d'Exposition à Chicago :

Mr. Henry Walter Barnett, better known as "Falk," the photographer, Royal Arcade, George-street, is the gentleman referred to. Mr. Barnett is a sound man of business, is admittedly at the head of his profession in this country, and has made four business trips to America and Europe almost within as many years. Having these facts in view, a representative of the EVENING NEWS waited upon Mr. Barnett on Saturday, and obtained the following interesting account of Chicago and its proposed faire, and the fallacy of extending Australian representation to either: He said he left Sydney by the Union Company's steamship Monowai sometime in August, 1891, for San Francisco...

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Evening News, Sydney, samedi 26 mars 1892, p. 2.

De retour, il va inaugurer, en mars 1895, une succursale à Melbourne qui semble avoir été dirigée par son frère Charles et sa sœur Phoebe :

La renommée d'Henry Walter Barnett est alors importante, et il est souvent réclamé par des figures célèbres de l'époque qui souhaitent se faire photographier :

Mr. H. W. Barnett, better known as Falk, the Melb. and Sydney photographer, whose excellent work has frequently adorned these pages, has the exclusive right of "taking" Mrs. Potter and Kyrie Bellew during their Australian tour, as he had on the occasion of their last visit. In fact, these players, who are reckoned the best of subjects for posing purposes that have visited Australia, refuse to sit to any other camera men. Mr. Barnett photographed Mrs. Potter first 12 years ago, when he was with the famous firm of W. and D. Downey, the Queen's photographers, of London, and his pictures of the beauteous lady have appeared in nearly every paper in the world.

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Free Lance, Melbourne, jeudi 25 juin 1896, p. 5.

Le cinématographe (1896)

Si les conditions de leur rencontre ne nous sont pas connues, Henry Walter Barnett va être en contact avec Marius Sestier après l'arrivée en Australie de ce dernier, en septembre 1896. L'historien Jack Cato donne sa version sur cette rencontre, mais ces informations ne sont pas confirmées :

In January, 1896, Walter Barnett left Falk's Studio, Sydney, for a holiday in London, returning later to Australia in a liner that called at Bombay. There in the Taj Mahal Hotel, Barnett met Sestier who was very disappointed with the reports on his work from Paris.
Walter Barnett offered to finance and bring Sestier to Australia in the same ship, under some loose partnership arrangement which must have been agreable to the Lumieres, for they continued to supply their film. Thirteen years later when I was working in London with Walter Barnett, he several times told de: "I was the first to bring a movie camera to Australia."

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CATO, 1955: 116.

Il semble pourtant que Walter Bernett n'ait pas quitté l'Australie au cours de l'année 1896. Ce qui est vrai c'est que, dès le 1^er octobre, les deux hommes apparaissent comme les directeurs du Salon Lumière de Sydney. où est présenté le cinématographe :

Mons M. Sesher [sic], who has brought the machine to Australia, has been accredited directly from the patentees, Messrs Lnmiere, of Lyons, France and gives an identical series of views with those now drawing all London to the Empire Theatre. Mons M Sestier is to be congratulated not only on the business he is doing, but also on having been able to arrange to do his business through such gentlemen as Mr Wettmacott and Mr Barnett. It is hardly possible to describe the wonderful beauties of the Cinematographe.

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Truth, Sydney, dimanche 4 octobre 1896, p. 2.

Selon, les annonces, il existe un incertitude sur la fonction respective de chacun. Dans une nouvelle annonce en date du 2 octobre, si Marius Sestier apparaît bien comme directeur, Westmacott et Barnett figurent comme "gestionnaire" ("under the management"). La confusion ne s'arrête pas là puisque le lendemain on peut lire dans la presse :

Photographer Falk is the possessor a a Cinematograph.

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Free Lance, Melbourne, samedi 3 octobre 1896, p. 5.

Dans ce même journal, quelques lignes plus loin, il est à nouveau question du cinématographe :

The Cinematographe which Harry Rickards has been showing, is not the most perfect of its kind. A French scientist, Lumiere, has brought the idea to a wonderful state of ingenuity. J. C. Williamson and Walter Barnett, proprietor of the Falk studios, have secured the Australian rights of this, and will before long startle the public of this land with the Frenchman's invention.

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Free Lance, Melbourne, samedi 3 octobre 1896, p .5.

Charles B. Westmacott, dans les souvenirs qu'il a laissés, évoque, de façon assez approximative, cette collaboration :

ONE of my early ventures into the lists of management had to do with the first display of moving pictures in Australia. The original machine - a Lumiere, was sent to this country by Pathe Freres [sic] in '95 [sic]. There were twelve pictures, each running to about 100 feet. J. C. Williamson had secured the outfit with a view to showing it in his forth coming Melbourne panto, "Matsa." The opening, however, was six weeks away, and J.C.W., always anxious to turn an honest penny, invited myself and Barnett, founder of Falk studios, to come in with him a preliminary Sydney season. The "big Boss" hadn't a vacant place of his own to show in, d'yo hen. Barnett and I rented a shop somewhere about where the Film House now stands. We put in Austrian chairs and engaged a small band with music specially arranged by Hazon, leading conductor of the day. We projected from what was really the shop window, and the admission charge was a bob.Williamson as machine holder took half the profits, and at the end of a hectic flickering month Barnett and I emerged with £100 apiece for our chop. The show ran at half hour intervals from midday until six o'clock.

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WESTMACOTT, 1929 (06/04): 17.

Les séances vont ainsi se prolonger jusqu'au 27 octobre 1896 date qui marque la fin des projections à Sydney. Peu après Henry Walter Barnett fait passe une annonce dans la presse où il signale qu'il n'a plus d'activités cinématographiques dans la ville.

The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, samedi 31 octobre 1896, p. 2.

Dans une autre annonce, il signale qu'il est parti avec Marius Sestier à Melbourne.

THE LUMIERE CINEMATOGRAPHE.
Mr. H. W. Barnett, of Falk's, notifies in another column that he is in no way connected with any cinematographe at present being exhibited in Sydney. Messrs. Sestier and Barnett are at present managing the only Lumière machine in Melbourne.

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The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, samedi 31 octobre 1896, p. 12.

Et après... (1897-1934)

H. Walter Barnett quitte Adelaide, le 1^er février 1897 à bord de Polynésien à destination de Marseille. Il s'installe alors à Londres, où il ouvre un studio à Hyde Park Corner.

Vue du studio photographique de H. Walter Barnett, 1 Hyde Park Corner (c. 1900)
© National Portrait Gallery, Londres

Peu après son arrivée, il est distingué par la British Royal Photographic Society :

AN AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHER
LONDON, October 1.
Mr Walter Barnett has obtained the premiership medal of the British Royal Photographic Society for head studies of the late Sir Henry Parkes and of Mr. Henri Kowalski, the eminent musician.

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The Golden Age, Coolgarie, samedi 2 octobre 1897, p. 3.

Au nombre de ses modèles, on compte des membres de la famille royale, des personnalités de la société britannique, des artistes en vue comme Sarah Bernhardt... Dès cette époque, il se rend régulièrement dans le sud de la France pour des raisons de santé :

H.W. Barnett (Falk, of Melbourne) has been ill with rheumatism. His many friends will be glad to know he is better and goes to the south of France shortly for the winter.

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Melbourne Punch, Melbourne, jeudi 20 janvier 1898, p. 16. 

Peu après, H. Walter Barnett ouvre un second studio sur Knightsbridge. 

 
H.Walter Barnett. Extérieur du studio photographique sur Knightsbridge (début XX^e siècle)
source: Victoria and Albert Museum

Au début du siècle, le jeune photographe Jack Cato travaille auprès de Barnett et garde de lui ce portrait :

When I was a young man I went to London and worked for Barnett, and in my autobiography I Can Take It, I tell of this period, when he was the chief photographer of Royalty, when practically every sitter possessed a title. At this time he photographed six sisters a day and his orders in 1909 averaged £37 each, so he was taking over a thousand pounds a week when golden sovereigns were currency.
Walter Barnett was tall and distinguished-looking, with light brown hait and a moustache. There was an air of the army officer about him, and a high sense of dignity. A sense of humour was not his strong point but he was a warm and generous friend to many of our Australian artists in London. Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton and James Quinn were his intimate associates. Many old members of his staff loved him, and swear by him. He could also make others hate him; and he was absolutely irresistible to women.
Apart from being one of the greatest operators of the camera who ever lived, he knew nothing about photography at all. He had never developed a negative or handled a pencil or brush for retouching and finishing, and he never made a print in his life. He gathered around himself a group of highly skilled craftsmen, paid them extravagant salaries, and inspired them to make the most of his splendid operating.

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CATO, 1955: 89-90. 

(L-R from rear) H. Walter Barnett, Mr Humphrey, two unidentified gentlemen, Mr Jules, (front) Ella Barnett, Mrs Jules, Mrs Humphrey, Julia Shikosal (1910)
source: National Gallery of Australia (Caberra)

Il voyage aux États-Unis en 1910 et est encore recensé à Londres en 1911, mais après la 1^re guerre mondiale, Henry Walter Barnett va résider le plus souvent en France comme le rappelle The Herald de Melbourne :

Since the war Mr Barnett has lived mostly in France, with a year or so in Italy, studying and collecting art—the object of his life's work. For years he has been associated with the artists and sculptors of England and the Continent. He has brought buck with him a collection of French works representing the modern feeling in technique and method.

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The Herald, Melbourne, mercredi 8 février 1927, p. 4.

Walter Henry Barnett, c. 1917.

Puis, en 1920, il vend son studio londonien et s'installe à Dieppe où il est devient l'un de principaux artistes locaux et il côtoie en particulier le peintre dieppois Jacques-Émile Blanche dont il fait un portrait photographique.

H. Walter Barnett, Jacques-Emile Blanche (1920). [D.R.]

Henry Walter Barnett décède à Nice en 1934. 

Sources

CATO Jack, The Story of the Camera in Australia, Melbourne, Georgian House, 1955, 290 p.

DE SERVILLE Paul H., "Henry Walter Barnett (1862-1934)", Australian Dictionary of Biography (https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/barnett-henry-walter-5139)

MELL Paul, "The Man Behind the Camera", The Critic, Adelaide, 16 décembre 1899, p. 47.

WESTMACOTT C. B., "His Apologia", Smith's Weekly, Sydney, 1929.

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