Thomas McMahon
Thomas John McMahon FRGS (1864 – 1933) was an Australian photojournalist and writer. From 1915 to 1922 he made several trips to Melanesia and Micronesia. His photographic reports depicting the Pacific Islanders gained a widespread audience.
Also recorded as Thomas John McMahon · Thomas J. McMahon · Thomas J McMahon · T. J. McMahon
Thomas McMahon
TJ McMahon (1864-1933) · http: naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=6448897 I=1 SE=1 · Public domain
- Born
- 1864
- Died
- 1933
- Nationality
- Australia
- Occupation
- photographer · photojournalist · journalist · writer
- Languages
- English
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Thomas John McMahon FRGS (1864 – 1933) was an Australian photojournalist and writer. From 1915 to 1922 he made several trips to Melanesia and Micronesia. His photographic reports depicting the Pacific Islanders gained a widespread audience.
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Thomas McMahon (1864–1933) was a journalist, photographer and photojournalist, among other activities, of Australian nationality. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q87409777 · wikipedia · Thomas John McMahon
In this article
Biography
Biography
Thousands were published worldwide in newspapers, magazines, books, serial encyclopedias and postcards. McMahon contributed to create a popular and visual knowledge of the Pacific. His work answered a demand in Australia, and the Western World, for visual information on the life in the Pacific Islands, the local's physical appearance and customs and whether economic opportunities existed for settlers or investors.
Key facts
Key facts
• Illustration — Photograph depicting Nauruan taken by TJ Mc Mahon around 1916-17.
Biography
Biography
• Illustration — Depiction of a missionary with natives in Nauru. Thomas McMahon, born in 1864, made a first trip to New Guinea in 1915, he then toured the Pacific till 1922 in order to advocate Australian colonialism, tourism and economic development in the area. He journeyed Nauru, Banaba, the Gilbert islands, the Marshall islands, the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, Fiji and the Torres strait Islands. After a reporting on Fiji published in The Sydney Mail in late 1921 and early 1922, he traveled to Asia in August 1922. He published a book about the experience and became a rural reporter and photographer for Brisbane's Courier Mail. He died in 1933.
Works
Works
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Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Brij V., Lal. The Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia. University of Hawaii Press. 163. 2000. 978-0-8248-2265-1.
- 2.Cochrane, Susan. Hunting the Collectors: Pacific Collections in Australian Museums, Art Galleries and Archives. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2014-11-10. 978-1-4438-7100-6.
- 3.Picturesque City of Suva. The Sydney Mail. 16. 16 November 1921.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 2
- Cochrane, Susan. Hunting the Collectors: Pacific Collections in Australian Museums, Art Galleries and Archives. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2014-11-10. 978-1-4438-7100-6.
- Quanchi, Max. Thomas McMahon: Photography as propaganda in the Pacific Islands. History of Photography. 21. 1. 42–53. March 1997. 0308-7298.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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