Background

Jack Cyril Cato was born on April 4, 1889 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. He was the son of Albert Cox Cato, salesman, and his wife Caroline Louise, née Morgan.

Education

At the age of 12 years Jack Cato did an apprenticeship, and studied arts in night school. His father arranged for him to have lessons from a friend who was a metallurgist at Queenstown, where he learnt the properties of metals in photography.

Career

From 1909 to 1913 Jack Cato worked in London, first for H. Walter Barnett, an Australian, in his popular society portrait studio, and then with Claude Harris, who specialized in theatrical personalities. He then worked as a freelance theatrical photographer, assisted by Nellie Melba, the famous singer, as a patron.

The photographer moved to South Africa in 1913, working as an expedition photographer for Professor Cory of Grahamstown University before enlisting for war service. After the war Jack Cato returned to Tasmania and set up a studio in Hobart in 1920. Seven years later he moved his studio to Melbourne, again with the assistance of Nellie Melba, and his studio became a leader in social portraiture until 1947, when he retired to concentrate on writing. He was nominated a fellow of RPS in 1917.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Melbourne

    (An Australiana society publication)

    1949
  • I Can Take It 1947
  • The story of the camera in Australia 1977

• photography

  • Picaninnis

  • Woman with coiffed hair

    1926

  • Triple portrait

    1938

  • The oriental salon

  • Fashion shoot

    1930

  • Judith

    1935

  • After the storm

Membership

• Professional Photographers' Association. , Australia

  1938

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• Cochrane, P.: "In 1955 The Story of the Camera in Australia was published, the first historical survey of the field written by a former professional photographer-turned-historian, Jack Cato. Cato's book, published long before the institutionalization of photography as an art form, was concerned with creating a lineage for professional photographers."

Connections

Jack Cyril Cato was married and had a son.

Son:

John Cato

Cousin:

John Beattie

teacher:

Percy Whitelaw

employer:

H. Walter Barnett

coworker:

Claude Harris

coworker:

Dame Nellie Melba