Summary

One of a subset of 24 negatives taken of various Melbourne suburbs including Chelsea, Williamstown and Mount Waverley. This image depicts the site of the old Williamstown racecourse where Phar Lap had his 41st start and his 29th registered win in the Underwood Stakes on the 25th August 1931.

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 site of the old Williamstown racecourse looking north-west from Port Phillip Bay showing the area bounded by Altona and Kororoit Creek Roads. Beyond this area is the north-west suburbs. In the foreground is a small lake and the racecourse grandstand. On the north side of Kororoit Creek, are large oil storage tanks, possibly part of the Standard Vacuum Oil petrochemical refinery. In the background, further west, are more storage tanks and chimney stacks.

Physical Description

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

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