Summary

Photograph of the Kodak Australasia black and white photo-finishing and photo-chemicals processing factory in Burnley, circa 1953.

The Burnley building was located at 550-556 Swan Street Burnley and was purchased by Kodak in 1950 as the Abbotsford factory became too cramped. The building was previously the Barnes Honey Factory.

The bottom floor housed Kodak's Powder & Solution Department while the top floor housed the Black & White Developing and Printing Department, as well as the canteen for all staff in the building.

According to a Kodak staff member, the house to the left of the Kodak building (on the viewer's right with the car in front) was reportedly lived in by Melbourne gangster Squizzy Taylor at some point during his life. This information is not verified but highlights the strong local interest and folklore around Squizzy in the Richmond area.

Both Kodak's Black & White Developing and Printing Department, (also known as the Black and White Photo Finishing Laboratory) and the Powder and Solution Department (later known as the Photochemical Department) operated out of these premises until1974. The Photochemical Department was transferred to the Coburg factory in 1974, while the photo finishing laboratory closed down at this time because a black and white processing and developing service was no longer provided by Kodak after Burnley was vacated.

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

Street view of the exterior of a two storey brick building. The photograph is angled to reveal two sides of the building, the front and the left side of the building. In the foreground, to the right, is a Victorian weatherboard residential cottage. The street features tram tracks.

Physical Description

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

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