Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph, two men operating machinery in the Machine Shop, Building 12 Engineering Workshops, taken shortly after occupying the newly constructed building, Kodak factory, Coburg, circa 1961.

The photograph shows machining equipment (either new or moved from Abbotsford), workbenches and personnel. Natural light can be seen coming in from windows on the left. The solid wall at the back was the south end of Building 12 while the lower height wall separated this shop from the Maintenance Workshop.

Approximately 160 tradesmen were spread throughout the central construction workshops in Building 12 and field maintenance workshops, located in the major manufacturing departments. They ranged across many trades such as toolmakers, machinists, fitters, carpenters, plumbers, sheet metal workers, electricians and instrument makers. They formed part of the Engineering Division at the Coburg Plant, which provided a wide range of services to the factory site including design, construction and maintenance of equipment used in the factory (including general plant and specialised equipment peculiar to the photographic industry), operation of the Power House and silver recovery departments, as well as general cleaning and gardening of the 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 after the manufacturing plant at Coburg had closed down the year before.

Description of Content

Close view of two men operating machinery in workshop featuring machine equipment, and workbenches. The workshop features overhead florescent strip lighting, windows positioned high up in the background for natural lighting, an exposed steel trussed roof and a concrete floor.

Physical Description

Black and white silver gelatin photograph printed on light weight paper, landscape format.

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