The Cottage Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Trip to Tasmania – Day 6

Hobart to Tasman National Park and Port Arthur Historic Site – 100km along the Arthur Highway.

Port Arthur was a penal station established in 1830 as a timber-getting camp, producing sawn logs for government projects. After 1833 became a punishment station for repeat offenders from all the Australian Colonies.

Today’s posting is a view of the The Cottage.

Originally built as a stable, this building was converted into a cottage to house one of the Port Arthur’s most famous political prisoners, Irish Protestant Parliamentarian William Smith O’Brien. He was a member of a revolutionary group formed to fight for Ireland’s independence from Britain.

In 1848, O’Brian was a mong a group of leaders arrested after a failed uprising. They were transported for life to Van Diemen’s Land in 1849. Unlike his fellow conspirators, he refused to secure a ticket of leave by promising not to escape. He was sent first to Maria Island and then having tried to escape, to Port Arthur.

When he arrived in August 1850 he described the settlement in his journal as looking “more like a pretty village placed in a romantic position than an abode of misery and crime”. He was treated as a special case and lodged alone in relative comfort. He was not allowed visitors but he took solace from feeding his neighbour’s pigeons and working in a small garden. In November, grateful for a petition in which 500 Hobart residents urged him to seek a ticket of leave, he promised not to escape and was freed. As he left, he farewelled Port Arthur as “a spot which has probably witnessed more of human suffering than almost any spot of equal size on the globe”. In 1856 he returned to Ireland.

In the post-convict period the building was used as a private residence and then a Youth Hostel.

(In: Your guide to Port Arthur, published by the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority).

ISO: 100

dip, papagolf21, ifege, burraburra, wgreis, lucasgalodoido, plimrn, Urs has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dip (12568) 2009-08-02 23:38

Hello Antonio,
a house with interesting past,
beautiful image with good POV and lighting managment,
well done!
Dimitris.

emka (21331) 2009-08-02 23:45

Hi Antonio, Another interesting place in Tasmania. It seems that there were a lot of prisoners there. A place in the end of the world. Something like Sibiria, difficult to escape from there
Nice photo, beautiful colours.

regards

Malgorzata

papagolf21 (56305) 2009-08-03 1:32

Bonjour, mon ami Antonio,
Très intéressante note d'accompagnement permettant de mieux comprendre le sujet de cette très belle composition.
Merci, Antonio, de nous apprendre chaque fois un peu plus sur ce grand pays.
Amitiés.
Philippe

ifege (1751) 2009-08-03 3:17

Again, another good shot of Port Arthur Antonio.
good composition and colour. You've built a great little photo gallery of that part of Tasmania.
regards

Ian

burraburra (847) 2009-08-03 6:00

Ciao Antonio,
Nice composition, colours are great. I love the blue sky and gum trees - a signature of Australia. Thanks for showing us much about the convict days and sharing the wonderful depictions :))
Regards,
graham.

wgreis (6014) 2009-08-03 10:24

O lugar é muito bonito António.
Bem organizado, limpo...
Gostei do gramado, bem aparado, da aparência rústica da casa e da bonita vegetação ao fundo.
O dia claro reforçou a beleza do lugar.
Parabéns e grande abraço.
Wagner.

xuaxo (5713) 2009-08-03 13:25

Olá António,
Esta série de Port Arthur está magnífica. The Cottage é mais uma excelente adição. Belas cores de novo. Tiveste também sorte com esse céu azulinho.
Cumprimentos,
Francisco

lucasgalodoido (16601) 2009-08-03 19:29

Olá Antônio,
uma história bem interessante essa mesmo, muito boa para acompanhar essa bonita foto. Gostei das cores.
Parabéns e Abraço

raszid62 (3045) 2009-08-04 3:40

Hello
Very nice cottage. Beauty colours and composition. Perfectly contrast and sharpness.
Best Regards
Joseph

delpeoples (5964) 2009-08-04 4:35

Hi Antonio, the photography of convict-built houses is one of my passions. I like the angle you've used which gives us an idea of the lay-out of the house in its entirety as it once was. I also like the combination of colours, they are magnificent. TFs and have a wonderful week, Lisa.

plimrn (19602) 2009-08-04 17:01

Ola Antonio,
You framed this well and captured excellent detail and color.

They certainly did a nice transformation from a stable to cottage. In`my POV, the ones who got transported were ther lucky ones. In the late 1700, a priest from Burrishoole Abbey, who participated in an uprising, was hanged In 1916 five who participated in an uprising were executed at Kilmainham. Wonder what the difference was between being executed or transported? I was thinking it might have been time but O'brien was right between the two, near the time of our Civil War.

SAA, Pat

phwall (5556) 2009-08-05 0:35

Hi Antonio,
I thought, why wait. Excellent POV on this building, you've captured it from a very interesting angle, showing all of the architectural details. The grass foreground, the house nestled up against the gum trees and that clear blue sky make a very attractive composition.
You can tell it's Tasmania by the number of chimneys for such a small house.
Regards
Peter

pablominto (40578) 2009-08-09 8:29

Hello Antonio,

An interesting piece of architecture with a background story!
Good point of view to show the house, seems like a fairly comfortable place to spend time....
A classical composition with good details, fine light renders great colours!

Greetings,
Pablo -

emjleclercq (14270) 2009-08-18 23:13

Based on your note, a rather simple house for such a famous person, but if he was a prisoner, it looks a bit like a palace! Anyway, an interesting old fashion house with the outside chimneys.

All the best,

Emmanuel

jmdias (19171) 2009-08-19 18:12

antônio

muito bom este pov baixo que mostra bem as formas graciosas desta casa, gosto da luz e do enquadramento. lindo local e foto eficiente para mostrá-lo

abraços

jorge

Urs (2800) 2009-08-22 7:24

Dear Antonio

Your photo shows a nice country house setting a fine contrast to the green grass and the darker green trees in the back of the house. Above all the blue sky. This perfect combination boosts DOF to perfection, while the colors in your combination boost each other to great vibrancy. Also sharpness is fine. Well done

Best regards
Urs

Photo Information

Copyright: Antonio Ribeiro (ribeiroantonio) (21895)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-04-23
Categories: Architecture, Ruins
Camera: Canon EOS30D, Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS-USM, Hoya 77mm HMC Cir-Polarizer
Exposure: f/2.8, 1/1250 seconds
Photo Version: Original Version
Travelogue: Trip to Tasmania
Date Submitted: 2009-08-02 22:10