Social Climbing, Manly Wharf

A harbour scene with pale blue sky and deep blue, glistening water. Blocks of flats, houses and trees in the distance. In the foreground, in the water, an old timber safety barrier crosses from bottom right to middle left. The barrier is made of long, heavy timber beams laid horizontally, supported by vertical timber pylons disappearing into the water, with a crust of barnacles. Angled pylons further support these, and everything is reflected in the gently rippled water. A sign on the back of the barrier says: ‘Swimming and diving prohibited’. In the middle distance is a long jetty with a colourful group of figures standing in the sun. Below, in blurry silhouette, a girl climbs a ladder from the water, and a second girl, still in the water, clings to a rope strung between two pylons.