Summary

Colour photograph featuring assembly line operations in the Camera Section for the production of the Instamatic range of cameras. The cameras were assembled in the Cameras, Reels and Sundries Department, Building 15, at the Kodak factory complex in Coburg, circa 1964.

Staff included: at left, unknown, Ann; Shirley?; Maureen, Carmel.

The camera section commenced operations in 1957 at Abbotsford with the production of the Brownie Flash II Camera. Operations moved to Coburg in 1961 and in 1963 production of the Instamatic range began. In the years to 1965 camera production progressed rapidly through a range of cameras to a daily output of over a thousand of the Instamatic range. Camera production ceased in 1981 when intense competition from Asian manufacturers made the operation unviable.

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

View of camera assembly line. Two sets of tables are positioned down the centre of the image facing each other. Women in blue uniforms are seated on either side and are assembling parts of Kodak Instamatic cameras. In the foreground are three wooden boxes of Kodak Instamatic cameras,

Physical Description

Colour photograph printed on medium weight paper, portrait format with a white border.

More Information