Summary

Photograph of a silver nitrate processing room at the Kodak Australasia factory in Abbotsford, Victoria, Sep 1952. This is part of the new silver nitrate department that was rebuilt after a fire in July 1952 destroyed the old department.

At the centre of the image, the woman wearing the laboratory coat on the left is June Craig and the woman on the right is Elaine Sharp. Both worked in the Kodak Research Laboratory. They are standing beside Wilfred Hassett (Mr Hassett).

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

Wide angle view of the silver nitrate processing room. At the centre of the image, a man in a laboratory coat holds a rack of test tubes and two women in laboratory coats stand either side of him. To the far right, a man is pouring liquid into glass jars. At the back of the image, standing against the tiled wall are two men in overalls. To the left, one man is wearing rubber gloves and working with a white substance in metal bowls. Two men stand behind him and are pouring liquid into a square container.

Physical Description

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

More Information