Summary

Black and white silver gelatin photograph taken by Wolfgang Sievers of an exterior view of Building 8 in the newly constructed Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd factory complex in Coburg, circa 1965.

Building 8 housed the Kodak Head Offices and Sales and Marketing Division. Architect Harry Norris of H A & F L Norris & Associates, created the design for the new factory and individual buildings, while the building contract was awarded to Lewis Constructions Pty Ltd. Building 8 was a steel and concrete framed brick infill structure featuring large areas of window glass and a unique air conditioning system to deal with the high solar loads. It consisted of four sections: the main office building of five floors plus services basement and under car parking area; the services block that consisted of five floors plus basement and additional sixth floor and elevator room; the reception area which was a single floor at ground level with under-floor amenities area (later filled in as a marketing theatre and entertaining area) and the computing centre block which was a single floor at ground level with under floor access for computer services.

The still uncompleted Coburg factory complex was officially opened on 14 April 1961 by the Prime Minister, Robert G. Menzies with Dr. A Chapman, President of Eastman Kodak Company, in attendance. The complex was the national headquarters of Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd and its manufacture of silver halide photographic products. It replaced the Abbotsford factory where Kodak had been operating since 1908. The Abbotsford premises eventually closed in 1966.

Wolfgang Sievers is widely recognised as one of Australia's most significant architectural and industrial photographers. He pioneered a modernist photographic style influenced by the Bauhaus, and his work celebrates industry and the worker. Sievers was commissioned to document the newly constructed Kodak Coburg plant. He subsequently took several hundred black & white and colour images that highlighted the modern architectural and industrial design features of the complex.

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 of a multi-storey building. The image is taken to show the 'L' shaped intersection of two parts of the building. The left section of the building has fewer storeys. The centre of the image shows the taller section of the building. At ground level there is an underground carpark area. To the right is a low lying wall with "Kodak" signage. In the foreground is paved and grassed areas.

Physical Description

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

More Information

  • Collection Names

    Kodak Heritage Collection, Wolfgang Sievers Collection

  • Collecting Areas

    Images & Image Making, Working Life & Trades

  • Acquisition Information

    Donation from Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Ms. Kate Metcalf - Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, 2005

  • Acknowledgement

    Courtesy of Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd.

  • Place & Date Depicted

    Coburg, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1965
    In the invoice [see HT 20552], dated 28th August 1964 from Sievers to Kodak regarding the commission of photographs of the Coburg factory complex, Sievers mentions the postponement of some external images until landscaping had been completed. This suggests a later creation date needs to be posited for photographs, possibly 1965 [circa 1965], for a group of black and white as well as colour externals that feature a different serial number [3613] from the serial number in the invoice [3562].

  • Organisation Depicted

    Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Coburg, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1965
    In the invoice [see HT 20552], dated 28th August 1964 from Sievers to Kodak regarding the commission of photographs of the Coburg factory complex, Sievers mentions the postponement of some external images until landscaping had been completed. This suggests a later creation date needs to be posited for photographs, possibly 1965 [circa 1965], for a group of black and white as well as colour externals that feature a different serial number [3613] from the serial number in the invoice [3562].

  • Photographer

    Wolfgang G. Sievers AO, Coburg, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, circa 1965
    In the invoice [see HT 20552], dated 28th August 1964 from Sievers to Kodak regarding the commission of photographs of the Coburg factory complex, Sievers mentions the postponement of some external images until landscaping had been completed. This suggests a later creation date needs to be posited for photographs, possibly 1965 [circa 1965], for a group of black and white as well as colour externals that feature a different serial number [3613] from the serial number in the invoice [3562].

  • Format

    Photograph, 8" x 10", Black & White

  • Inscriptions

    Back, stamp: 'WOLFGANG SIEVERS/Photographer/9 COLLINS ST., MELBOURNE C.1./TELEPHONE 63-4021' Back, handwritten, pencil: '3613B'

  • Classification

    Manufacturing & industry, Photographic products, Factory exterior views

  • Category

    History & Technology

  • Discipline

    Technology

  • Type of item

    Image

  • Image Dimensions - Photograph

    244 mm (Width), 196 mm (Height)

  • References

    Beale, N, The History of Kodak in Australia, Coburg, no date. [Link 1] "A Brief Process Based Site History, Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Coburg Plant" Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, 2007 Pamphlet, "Milestones in the History of Kodak (Australasia) Pty. Ltd", Kodak (Australasia) Pty. Ltd., 1985 Leggio, Angeletta "A History of Australia's Kodak Manufacturing Plant", Topics in Photographic Preservation, Volume Twelve, 2007 Ennis, Helen "Intersections: Photography, History and the National Library of Australia", National Library of Australia, Canberra, 2004

  • Keywords

    Buildings, Exterior Views, Factories, Manufacturing Plants, Offices, Photography, Making History - Kodak Collection