Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph of the Kodak Australasia factory site in Abbotsford, Victoria, circa 1950.

This photograph features the Yarra River and its western bank in the foreground, with a row of trees along the top of the bank. The Kodak factory is visible in the background, At left is the Power House, with its two tall chimneys.The Power House provided all of the power and refrigeration for the Kodak factory. This taller chimney at right was the second chimney and was probably built in the 1930s. The original, shorter, chimney was removed by 1955. Adjacent to the Power House is the Paper Coating Building with a water tank on top of its tall tower. This is where photographic paper was coated and photographic emulsions were manufactured. The water tank contained distilled water which was used in manufacturing. At the far right is the Kodachrome Building, which was constructed in the 1940s. Film was processed and paper prints were made here, and the research lab was also housed here.

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 is of the exterior of a factory site. This image features a river and its bank in the foreground, with a row of trees along the top of the bank. Factory buildings are visible in the background. A powerhouse building with two chimneys is at left, and a building with a tower that has a water tank on top is next to it. A multi-storey brick building is at far right.

Physical Description

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

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