Claire Lupton interviewed by Jeannine Baker, 2018.

Several women worked as camera operators in early television, initially as freelance camera ‘stringers’ to cover events that regular news crews could not easily reach.

Claire Lupton, née Harrison, was working in the ABC’s Sydney news department in 1958 when the male camera operators secretly trained her on the film equipment, and then demanded she be given the opportunity to become a ‘cameraman’ by passing a test.

In this excerpt from her oral history interview, Claire recalls being set an especially difficult task.

Listen to another excerpt from Claire Lupton's 2018 oral history interview, in which she talks about the impact of covering traumatic news events.

Image: Claire Lupton née Harrison’s ABC camera correspondent certificate. NFSA title: 1526020.