Summary
Black and white silver gelatin photograph taken by Wolfgang Sievers features the studio and demonstration area at the Kodak Technical Service Centre at the Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd factory complex in Coburg, 1964.
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
Image features photographic processing equipment and photography studio facilities. To the left is a bench with equipment including warming lights and a series of diagrams/instructions on the wall . A refrigerator is positioned next to the bench. At centre and to the right are various pieces of equipment and to the rear of the image is a camera and studio light set up. The room features fluorescent strip and spot lights and a linoleum floor.
Physical Description
Black and white, silver gelatin photograph printed on light weight paper, landscape format.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Ms. Kate Metcalf - Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, 2005
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Acknowledgement
Courtesy of Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd.
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Place & Date Depicted
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Organisation Depicted
Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Coburg, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1964
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Photographer
Wolfgang G. Sievers AO, Coburg, Greater Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 1964
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Format
Photograph, Black & White
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Inscriptions
Back, stamp: 'WOLFGANG SIEVERS/Photographer/9 COLLINS ST., MELBOURNE C.1./TELEPHONE 63-4023' Back, handwritten, pencil: '3562 AB'
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Classification
Manufacturing & industry, Photographic products, Factory interior views
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Image Dimensions - Photograph
247 mm (Width), 199 mm (Height)
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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 "Kodak Opens New Technical Service Centre", Industrial Photography & Commercial Camera, May/June, 1964, pp.10-11
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Keywords
Manufacturing Plants, Photographic Equipment, Photographic Studios, Photography, Making History - Kodak Collection