QVMAG curator Jon Addison on the life and art of motorcycle-loving HJ King

Over several months, QVMAG Senior Curator Jon Addison has been taking audiences through different aspects of King's life and art. The exhibition has been on display since August last year, and this week, audiences will take an intimate look at King's religious life.

King was frequently published in The Examiner and the Weekly Courier and though an amateur, was tasked by the City of Launceston to complete the first aerial photographic survey of an Australian town or city.

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Many other professional photographers at the time took issue with this, Mr Addison said. But looking through records shows that the Council didn't bother to respond to their complaints.

King did the job because he loved it and was paid 10 pounds.

Mr Addison's talk will focus on his life as a Christadelphian which was rare for the time.

King's mother had converted to the sect in the United Kingdom and was responsible was setting up the Christadelphian church in Northern Tasmania, Mr Addison said.

The church is unique because it doesn't really adhere to a central church hierarchy, Mr Addison said. Each branch of the Christadelphian church is independent but aligned with the beliefs and values of the wider church.

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As a result, King grew up with a strong set of values and beliefs and he remained in the church for the rest of his life.

The influence of his faith on his art is not particularly overt, Mr Addison said. However, his religious beliefs informed his pacifist stance on the war.

King didn't believe in violence believing that engaging in war would cost him his resurrection, Mr Addison said.

But he did support the war effort and the bulk of his photographs of Launceston are when most of the men were away at war.

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What makes King a fascinating figure is that he was a man of contradictions, Mr Addison said.

He was a conservationist but also a rev-head, highly adventurous, open to technology and conservative at the same time.

Contradictions exist in everybody but it's rare to get a chance to get an intimate insight into some of these contradictions in any one person's life, Mr Addison said.

His life is an important story because it recognises that not all the great photography in the world is taken by "a select few."

Jon Addison's talk on HJ King's family and religion is on Wednesday 21 June at 12pm.

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