Inducted into ACS Hall of Fame – 2004
Arthur Hansen was a founding member of the Society in 1958. He served on early committees and was a dedicated cinematographer during the early years of film production in Australia.
Initially Arthur worked as a laboratory technician to learn his craft, with some of his first work being on the title board and optical printer. In 1927 Arthur was appointed as a cameraman for De Forrest Phonofilms at their Rushcutters Bay studio, the studio was built in the old cable-tram sheds at Rushcutters Bay, which were converted into a sound studio enabling the company to get involved in sound as well as silent film production.
Some years later Arthur received a great deal of praise for his special effects on several feature films including “Always Another Dawn” 1948 and “Into the Strait” 1949.
Arthur was also the Director of Photography on many documentaries including a number of episodes of “Walkabout” produced by Charles Chauvel.
During the 1950s / 1960s Arthur was employed by Avondale Studios at Turella, a suburb of Sydney shooting television commercials and documentaries.
Arthur died in 1994 just prior to his ninetieth birthday.
The Society had the pleasure of entertaining his granddaughter Leah McKenzie from Sydney who accepted the Induction Certificate at the 2004 National Awards.