Summary

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

In the mid to background of the photograph, an extensive array of Kodak factory buildings can be seen, as well as two chimneys and a tower with a water tank on top. On the horizon other factory sites are visible. The Yarra River is on the right (eastern side) of this photograph. Market gardens are evident in the foreground, separated from the factory by a timber fence. The market gardens were possibly a Kodak initiative, grown on Kodak land, and made available for employees during World War II to grow vegetables. This would have helped sustain the employees as food was in short supply during this time. Alternatively, the gardens may have belonged to commercial Chinese market gardeners that operated nearby.

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 features a view of a factory and a river to the right. Market gardens are in the foreground of the image and other factory sites are in the background.

Physical Description

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

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