Houtman Abrolhos (PDF)

The Abrolhos Collection
2012-2013 Catalogue

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY
155 Marine Tce, Geraldton
Ph 9921 3001

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Karl Monaghan Photography is your local, award winning
professional photographer located in the heart of the
Geraldton CBD.
His high street Gallery provides a visual treat to visitors and
locals alike, as well as delivering a high quality of services
for printing, framing and studio photography.
For decades the islands have been host to cray fishermen
and their families who reside on the islands for months at a
time, fishing the waters around the islands. Although some
have ceased their annual transit, many still remain with the
colourful array of seasonal cottages still a testament to the
flourishing industry.
Capturing the essence of the islands throughout different
points in the year, some images of bright green waters
depict the hype of activity with the coral reefs spawning in
2011, while other images more commonly reflect the sight
on show to vistors to the area.
Karl Monaghan stocks a collection of over 100 images of
the Abrolhos Islands, available to view via his website at
www.outbackpix.com
at your leisure or call
in to the Gallery at
155
Marine
Tce
Geraldton to soak up
the atmosphere.
Custom prints and
frames
are
also
available to order.

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

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History of the Abrolhos
First discovered by the Dutch VOC Ship Dordrecht, of which
Frederick de Houtman was the Captain-General of in 1619.
The word Abrolhos is of Portuguese origin and in the language
of the time, Abrolhos meant “spiked obstructions”.
The Houtman Abrolhos is a chain of 122 islands and coral reefs
in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. Informally
known
as
the
Abrolhos Islands, the
island group is home
to one of the worlds
most
Important
seabird
breeding
sights and is the
centre of WA’s largest
single species fishing
industry,
the
Western
Rock
Lobster fishery.
The islands are also
home to a small
population
of
seasonal fishermen,
as well as providing a
pristine
growth
environment for the
beautiful,
Abrolhos
Pearls.
Map Courtesy of Lattitude Gallery

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Abrolhos - Reef System 1
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Reef System 2
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Reef System 5
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Abrolhos – Reef System 6
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos – Reef System 7
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos – Shallow Islands
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

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Wallabi Group
The Northern most group of the Houtman Abrolhos, lies 58km
off the Australian Mainland and about 9km from the Easter
Group. It consists of a number of islands arising from a
carbonate platform 17km long and up to 10km wide as well
as the outer lying North Island, located 14km northwest of the
main platform.
The main islands are North Island, West Wallabi Island, East
Wallabi Island, Long Island and Beacon Island, famous as the
site of the Batavia Mutiny and Massacre in 1629.
The Batavia story is an integral part of growing up in the Mid
West with stunning exhibitions of relics recovered from the
wreckage site currently at rest in the WA Museum in
Geraldton.
Like the other islands of the Houtman Abrolhos, the islands of
the Wallabi Group are identified as a part of the HA Important Bird Area because of their importance for supporting
large numbers of breeding seabirds.

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Abrolhos - Big Pigeon 2-2 Coral Spawning
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Big Pigeon 2 Coral Spawning
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Big Pigeon & Little Pigeon Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Big Pigeon Island 2
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

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Abrolhos - East Wallabi
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Little Pigeon 1
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Little Pigeon
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Abrolhos - Long Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Shacks West Wallabi
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - West Wallabi Vista
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

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Easter Group
Named for the Christian Season during which it was
discovered, the Easter Group is the central group of Islands
that make up the Houtman Abrolhos Island chain which spans
a 20 x 12km area.
The group includes Rat Island, Wooded Island, Morley Island,
Suomi Island and Alexander Island to name a few.
This group is lesser known for its shipwrecks, having claimed
only a few vessels, but is also a part of the Houtman Abrolhos
Important Bird Area because of its part in supporting large
numbers of breeding seabirds.

Abrolhos - Big & Little Rat
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Abrolhos - Little Rat
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Big Rat
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Little Rat
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Little Rat
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

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Abrolhos - Roma Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Roma Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Roma Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Roma Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

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Pelsaert / Southern Group
The southernmost group of the Houtman Abrolhos, the Pelsaert
group is made up of a number of islands, the largest ones
being Gun Island, Middle Island & Pelseart Island.
Named after a Dutch Commander who was stranded
nearby on the Batavia in 1629, the group is home to the most
southern true coral reefs in the Indian ocean and is part of the
Houtman Abrolhos Important Bird Areas because of its
importance for supporting large numbers of breeding
seabirds.
Many ships have sought their fateful end in the Pelseart Group,
the most notable of these being the Zeewijk, wrecked off Half
Moon Reef in 1727. Others wrecked in the area include the
Ocean Queen in 1842, Ben Ledi in 1879 & the Windsor in 1908.
Best known for wreckage of the Batavia in 1629, Beacon
Island became the site of the subsequent mutiny and
massacres of crew members from the stricken vessel.

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Abrolhos 0068 - Bassile Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos 0069 - Burnett Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos 0103 - Big Sandy
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Wooded Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Abrolhos 0104 - Wooded Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Bassile Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Burnett Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Wooded Island 2
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

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Abrolhos - Jackson Island
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - Southern Group
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

Abrolhos - The Nook
130x45cm Stretched Canvas Print with UV Protectant $550

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

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The Batavia
Built in 1628, the Batavia had set sail from Texel for the Dutch
East Indies to obtain spices. It sailed under the Command of
Francisco Pelseart and with Ariaen Jacobsz as the skipper.
These two had previously encountered each other in India,
and although some animosity had developed between them
there, it is unclear whether Pelseart even remembered
Jacobsz when he boarded the Batavia.
Also on board was the onderkoopman (under or junior merchant) Jeronimus Cornelisz, a bankrupt pharmacist who was
fleeing the Netherlands, in fear of arrest because of his
heretical beliefs associated with the painter Johannes Van
Der Beeck.
During the voyage, Jacobsz & Cornelisz conceived a plan to
take the ship, which would allow them to start a new life
somewhere, using the huge supply of trade gold and silver
then on board. After leaving Cape Town where they had
stopped for supplies, Jacobsz deliberately steers the ship off
course, away from the rest of the fleet. Jacobsz and Cornelisz
had already gathered a small group of men around them
and arranged an incident from which the mutiny would then
ensue. This involved molesting a high-ranking young female
passenger, Lucretia Jans, in order to provoke Pelseart into
disciplining the crew. They hoped to paint his discipline as
unfair and recruit more members out of sympathy.
However, although the woman was able to identify her
attackers, due to an unknown illness, Pelseart never acted
upon the information, to make arrests.
Continued pg. 18

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….continued from pg. 17

On June 4, 1629 the ship struck Morning Reef near Beacon
Island. Of the 322 aboard, 40 drowned at sea with the remainder able to get ashore to the nearby island. The
survivors, including all the women and children, were then
transferred to nearby islands in the ship’s longboat and yawl.
As an initial survey of the islands found no fresh water and
only limited food (sealions & birds), Pelseart made the decision
to search for water on the mainland.
A group consisting of Captain Jacobsz, Francisco Pelseart,
senior officers, a few crew members and some passengers, left
the wreck site in a 30 foot longboat in search of drinking
water. After an unsuccessful search for water on the
mainland, they abandoned the other survivors and headed
North for the city of Batavia, now known as Jakarta.
After their arrival in Batavia, the boatswain was arrested and
executed for negligence and outrageous behaviour before
the loss of the ship (he was suspected to be involved). Jacobz
was also arrested for negligence, although his position in the
potential mutiny was not guessed by Pelsaert.
Batavia’s Governor General immediately gave Pelsaert command of the Sardam to rescue survivors, as well as to attempt
to salvage riches from the Batavia’s wreck. However he arrived at the islands, 2 months after leaving Batavia, only to discover a bloody mutiny had take n place amongst the
survivors reducing their numbers by at least a hundred.
Pelsaert decided to conduct a trial on the islands, because

KARL MONAGHAN PHOTOGRAPHY

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the Sardam on the return voyage to Batavia would have
been overcrowded with survivors and prisoners. After a brief
trial, the worst offenders were taken to Seal Island and
executed. Cornelisz and several of the other major mutineers
had both hands chopped off before being hanged.
The remaining mutineers were taken to Batavia for trial. Five
were hanged, while several others were flogged. Cornelisz’s
second
in
command, Jacop
P i e t e r sz ,
was
‘broken on the
wheel’ the most
s e v e r e
punishment
available at the
time.
A board of inquiry
decided
that
Pelsaert had exercised a lack of
authority and was
therefore partly to
blame for what
happened.
His
financial
assets
were seized and
he died a broken
man
within
a
year.

Long Island
140cm x100cm Canvas $850

Established in 2004, photographer Karl Monaghan has
developed a reputation for excellence in the field of digital
photography, digital printing and custom framing. The
business has grown and developed setting the highest
standard in Landscape, Portrait and Commercial
Photography.
From a humble Kitchen hobby business, Karl Monaghan
Photography now offer’s the mid west and Gascoyne
regions of Western Australia the highest quality
Photographic Service Delivery. With over 300sqms of gallery
space incorporating a state of the art photographic studio
fully equipped with Elinchrom back drops and Bowen
lighting combinations suitable for glamour, family and
portrait Photography.
Our state of the art framing service boasts the finest
machinery and conservation quality products. An in house
fine art printing service using Epson large format printers with
Ultra Chrome 3 inks guarantee the finest reproductions for
photographs and fine art re prints all to museum
standard on archive papers. Now established in the heart of
Geraldton Western Australia we are able to offer our
customers a ONE STOP SHOP for all their photo printing,
archive framing and commercial Photography needs.
Karl Monaghan Photography
155 Marine Tce,
Geraldton WA 6530
Phone: 08 9921 3001
E-mail: 335Productions@westnet.com.au