Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the Kodak Australasia factory site in Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1940s.

This photograph features the Yarra River and its western bank in the foreground, with the Kodak factory visible in the background. The multi-storey brick building at mid left is the No 6 Film Coating Building, where photographic film was coated, 'finished' and distributed. The tall tower at mid right of the background, with a water tank on top, is part of the Paper Coating Building where photographic paper was coated and photographic emulsions were manufactured. The water tank visible contained distilled water which was used in manufacturing. To the immediate right is the tall chimney of the Power House, which provided all of the power and refrigeration for the Kodak factory. This chimney was the second chimney and was probably built in the 1930s. The original, shorter, chimney was removed by 1955. At the far right another chimney is visible, belonging to another factory site.

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

Photograph of a factory site and a river. This image features the western bank of the river in the foreground, with a tree hanging over the river at left. A factory site is visible in the background, with several multi-storey buildings, chimneys and water tank towers. In the grasslands between the river and the factory buildings, a man is visible.

Physical Description

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

More Information