Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the exterior of the Kodak factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1930s.

The tank in the foreground close to the river was probably used in the silver nitrate manufacturing process. This process involved dissolving silver in concentrated nitric acid for use in photographic film products. Behind this are the maintenance workshops. Behind these is the Power House building with its two chimneys. The Power House provided all of the power and refrigeration for the factory. The shorter chimney was the original Power House chimney, which was removed by 1955. The second chimney was probably built in the 1930s. To the right is the Paper Coating Building where photographic paper was coated and photographic emulsions were manufactured. The tank visible on the top of the tower of this building contained distilled water which was used in manufacturing. The low building further to the right is the staff canteen, and behind this with ivy on the front, is the Glass Plate Building where glass plates were made. The tall building in the rear is the Number 6, Film Coating Building, which made film products and included the 'finishing' process and distribution. In the right foreground the large staff garden area can be seen.

Kodak manufactured and distributed a wide range of photographic products to Australasia, such as film, paper, chemicals, cameras and miscellaneous equipment. Its client base included amateur and professional photographers, as well as specialist medical and graphic art professionals who used photography, x-ray and other imaging techniques.

This photograph is part of the Kodak collection of products, promotional materials, photographs and working life artefacts collected from Kodak Australasia in 2005, when the Melbourne manufacturing plant at Coburg closed down.

Description of Content

The photograph of the factory is looking west from across the Yarra River. It features the river and trees in the foreground and the factory in the background across the river. Chimneys and a variety of factory buildings are visible, as well as palm trees and gardens.

Physical Description

Black and white, silver gelatin photograph, printed on medium weight paper, landscape format with a white border.

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