Summary

Marie McKinley (later de Camara) in her work apron in the Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd factory, Burnley circa 1960s.

Marie worked for Kodak for 35 years in total, commencing at Abbotsford, moving to Burnley and then finishing up at Coburg. She spent the majority of her working life at Burnley in the Powder and Solution Department, and here she is pictured in the workspace there, with chemicals, scales and crates behind her.

Women in the work areas here were given a button up dress to wear over their own clothes as a protective layer. Marie is wearing one here, her own dress just visible beneath.

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.

Both Kodak's 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.

This photograph complements the Kodak Heritage 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.

Kodak Australasia Pty Ltd 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.

Description of Content

Woman in apron and work dress, standing in front of a bench which has a box of Kodak chemical preparations, a set of scales, and some wooden crates piled on it.

Physical Description

Black and white photographic print, portrait format, with white border

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