Image Credit: State Library of South Australia and Kelly Bonato
“I never get tired of this photograph… it’s my absolute favourite,” says Kelly Bonato, the colourist behind the beautifully reimagined image taken more than a century ago at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.
“If I ever tried to recreate this moment, it would be less Titanic and more Splash! I’d be soaked in seconds.”
The image, originally captured by photographer S.G. Spink in 1901, shows a young woman gracefully seated on a giant waterlily leaf – an optical marvel made even more magical through Kelly’s digital colourisation. Titled Victoria amazonica waterlily (B 733/411), it’s part of the State Library of South Australia’s historic photo archive.
There is a similar black and white image of a young girl sitting on a waterlily believed to be taken around the same time. According to researchers, the young girl may be Edith Filpin whose father worked in the Botanic Gardens but – with both images dated more than a century ago – the story behind them remains uncertain.
Girl on a leaf of Victoria amazonica [PRG 280/1/42/19]
Now here comes the conflicting evidence. The plot thickens once more…
We have recently recieved news that the woman of mystery may actually be Ludmilla Hughes, who was known as an adventurer and a “tom boy” of her time. Her father, Dr Maurice William Holtze, was the director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.
Ludmilla was born in Russia on March 1, 1871, supposedly reaching one hundred before passing away on April 6, 1971. Her father worked at the Imperial Gardens – the oldest Botanical Gardens in Russia – before she and her family fled by a dog slead in the middle of the night to avoid political danger.
Her father being quite the authority figure in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens might explain why she was dressed so elegantly, perched on the lily like an ethereal goddess defying gravity.
Here is another famous photo of her taken in or near Darwin.
Ludmilla Hughes in or near Darwin, Credit: Ben Pike
It wasn’t just the image’s serene setting that drew Kelly in, but the mystery of how the photo was even possible. It’s unlikely that even the most sturdy lilies could support a human so elegantly at that time.
“For the longest time, I was convinced there had to be some kind of support beneath the pad – a box hidden under the water maybe,” she says.
“But it turns out, sitting on these leaves can be possible depending on weight distribution.”
Kelly credits fellow researcher Steven Birchby with helping to crack the mystery.
The photo was taken inside the now-demolished Victoria regia greenhouse, a glasshouse built specifically for the Victoria amazonica, the largest of the waterlily family. Native to the Amazon River basin, the leaves can grow up to two metres wide and support the weight of a small child if evenly balanced.
For those eager to recreate the photograph’s beauty, you may need to book a trip to Taiwan.
“There’s actually a park in Taipei where people sit on lilies for photos,” she says.
“They prepare the lilies with a kind of structure underneath, so it’s designed to hold weight. It’s in Taiwan – my son just came back from there!”
That park, Shuangxi Park, is renowned for its magnificent lilies – some stretching over 130 centimetres wide – and has become a tourist magnet thanks to these staged, floaty photo ops. But back in Adelaide, it’s best to admire from the sidelines.
“Please don’t try it here,” Kelly laughs. “These plants are delicate, and the gardeners definitely won’t thank you for hopping on.”
In fact, the Botanic Garden reports that people have tried to recreate the magical photograph, and it has gone exactly as expected; swimmingly.
Kelly found the photo on the State Library’s website – a place she refers to as her second home.
“I spend most of my life on there,” she laughs. “And once I find a photo I love, I start the process of colourising it.”
She runs the Facebook page ‘A Colourful History,’ breathing life into old photographs through colour and sharing them with the community.
Her method blends old-school technique with modern tech for a creative adaptation. The result of this photograph is truly captivating, leaving you pondering its history and how the image came to be.
“My son built me a colourisation tool years ago, but the colours are always wrong, so I repaint it all in Photoshop. I’ve got a library of colours now — I try to get it as accurate as I can, but sometimes I do get a bit creative.”
While Kelly sells a few prints, she mostly shares the images simply for the joy of keeping history alive.
“Someone asked to buy this one, which is why I had a copy on hand. But usually I just let people enjoy them.”
You can view the original image on the State Library of South Australia’s website – and for those curious to see the real thing, the Amazon Waterlily Pavilion is open daily at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Just don’t test the lilies.
WHAT:Victoria amazonica waterlily (B 733/411) WHERE: Adelaide Botanic Gardens For ‘A Colourful History,’ click here.
