Summary

One of a subset of 11 negatives taken of Melbourne central business district, possibly taken during a Royal visit by Queen Elizabeth II.

This subset is part of approximately 3,000 negatives taken by Jim Payens, the Melbourne based aerial photographer, and form part of the Payens Collection. The images span the period predominantly between the 1950s - 1970s.

Jim Payens was one of a very small number of Australian photographers to have specialised in oblique and survey aerial photography. He was also one of the earliest Australian aerial photographers. This collection consists predominantly of aerial views of the city of Melbourne, surrounding suburbs and regional Victoria but also extends to other parts of Australia. The Collection depicts a variety of landmark events and major engineering projects throughout Australia including the Australian Grand Prix, Olympic Games (Melbourne & Sydney) and the construction of Eildon Weir.

The Museum also holds the aerial camera and equipment used by Payens to take these images as well as an oral history interview with the photographer.

Description of Content

Oblique aerial photograph of the city of Melbourne looking north-west from Exhibition Street showing the area bounded by Russell, Flinders, Spencer and La Trobe Streets. There is a crowd of people standing along Swanston Street, possibly due to a Royal visit by Queen Elizabeth II. In the foreground is St Paul's Cathedral and Flinders Street Station. Further north, on Swanston Street, is the Melbourne Town Hall and Manchester Unity building. In the background is Spencer Street (now Southern Cross) railway yard and Victoria Docks (now Melbourne Docklands).

Physical Description

negative; black and white; silver gelatin; cellulose acetate.

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