At its very best, photojournalism can define a moment, a movement, an era or a whole generation. It can bring down a careless politician or elevate them to a winning status, it can lift a weary spirit and sometimes it can move opinions and the way we view the world.

Photographer and media commentator Mike Bowers explores the Fairfax Photographic Archive held by the National Library of Australia. This collection comprises over 18,000 glass-plate negatives. Most of the images were captured in New South Wales, while other parts of Australia make up a smaller portion of the collection. Photographs from these negatives appeared in Fairfax publications such as The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun and Sydney Mail.

Covering the period 1890-1948, the collection covers a range of themes, including: sporting and social events, the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, aviation, rural scenes, industry, politicians, celebrities, and photographs of daily life. In creating photographs for mainstream publications, the early photojournalists familiarised Australians with a new visual language of the news.