Ernest Sterne Usher Photographs of the South-west Pacific

630 nitrate negatives/photographs, mainly of the eastern Papuan Gulf region, taken by Usher during 1914-16 while he was working as a geologist/surveyor for oil exploration in the region of the Vailala and Purari rivers. Donated by his sister, Edith Saxton, in 1972. Usher took photographs at other locations in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during his travel back to Australia on leave but died in a canoe accident soon after return to the Vailala area. Photographs taken by E.R. Stanley, L.L. Wrathall, W.H. Cooper and J.W. Beattie are included in the collection.