Summary

Black and white, sepia toned silver gelatin photograph of the interior of the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford or Burnley in Melbourne, circa early to mid 20th century.

Two men are mixing chemicals in the Mixing Room in the Kodak factory processing laboratories. They are mixing processing solution, ie developer and fixer, both to be sold in bottles as products and for Kodak's internal use.

The location could be at Kodak's Abbotsford or Burnley factory site, although seems more likely to be Abbotsford due to the sepia tone of the image which likely dates to before 1950 when Kodak moved its black and white processing and developing department to Burnley. In this image the chemicals are being mixed in wooden tubs. By the time the factory moved to Coburg in the late 1950s, only stainless steel was used in the processing areas. The men are also using little safety equipment, whereas in the modern Coburg factory the safety standards were very high.

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

Two men mixing chemicals in a laboratory. The chemicals are held in wooden tubs at left. Hoses and pipes are attached to the walls at left and to the rear. One man is standing on the ground level with a hose in a tub. The other man is standing on a raised walkway with a metal bucket in his hand. A ladder leads up to the walkway. Both men wear aprons but have no other safety equipment.

Physical Description

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

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