Summary

Black and white, silver gelatin photograph of an external view of a Kodak factory building with two workers operating a pulley system in Abbotsford, Victoria, 1952.

The Abbotsford factory was initially the site of the Austral Plate Company, created by Thomas Baker, a pharmaceutical chemist, in 1884. After Baker went into partnership with accountant, John Rouse, to develop the photographic manufacturing company, Baker and Rouse Pty Ltd, they proposed a merger with Eastman Kodak in 1907. In 1908, Australian Kodak Limited was formed and evolved to become what is known today as Kodak Australasia. The Abbotsford site remained the base for the operations of Kodak Australasia until the late 1950s.

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 angled upwards, with the main focus on two men using a pulley system to hoist a piece of equipment up the outside of a factory building. The two men are positioned on an outside wooden stair structure situated next to a building. Two water tanks are in the back and middle ground of the image positioned next to the stairs. In the foreground is a man holding one of the ropes guiding the pulley. His back is turned to the camera.

Physical Description

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

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