Summary

Black and white silver gelatin sepia toned photograph of factories in Abbotsford during the Yarra River flood in 1934.

This image seems to have been taken from a high vantage point at the Kodak Australasia factory, looking west along the Yarra River with Abbotsford and Fitzroy in the background. The tall spire in the mid-right background is most likely the Collingwood Town Hall, while the trees and parkland of Studley Park are at right on the other side of the river. In the left foreground is some partially submerged land, factory buildings and a tall chimney. At left of the second building a man and a child can be seen standing in the flood water. A brewery sign is visible in the left background behind the industrial buildings. In the distance, inner city Melbourne can be seen, dotted with numerous tall industrial chimneys. A partially submerged fence line parallel to the Yarra River is in the mid-ground. This image does not appear to feature any of the Kodak factory buildings in it.

The Yarra River was prone to flooding, and despite major works designed to manage water flow in the 1920s, the river still experienced a major flood in November 1934. Such floods caused damage to the local factories and potentially washed away into the river some of the materials and chemicals that were used in the manufacturing processes within the factories.

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 shows a flooded landscape, with trees partially submerged in the foreground of the image and in the background are factory buildings, also partially submerged. One large chimney to the left of the image, stands prominently. To the rear of this is a multi-storeyed brick building. The lower lying buildings to the side of the chimney and mid-ground in the image, are the most obscured by the water level. The fence line along the river is mostly submerged. Trees and part of the bank of the river are partially visible in the foreground.

Physical Description

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

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