Summary

Colour 5" x 4" inch negative showing a 'Space Exploration' display at the Royal Melbourne Show on 22 September 1969.

In the image a male government worker is explaining a space suit, worn by a mannequin, to a crowd. On the walls there are photographs and information about NASA Apollo Missions, and also about unmanned lunar exploration. The Apollo 11 mission had landed American astronmauts on the moon for the first time just several months before this display was mounted at the Show, in July 1969, and the display was no doubt marking the occasion.

This image is part of the Laurie Richards Collection at Museums Victoria comprising approximately 85,000 negatives taken by the Melbourne based Laurie Richards Studio between the 1950s -1970s. These negatives are all mostly large format [5"x 4"/ 12.5 x 10 cm], black and white images, though a significant number are in colour. The many photographic jobs that were undertaken in the course of thirty years are itemised in a set of logbooks, copies of which are also held by Museums Victoria.

Laurie Richards was a professional photographer who began his career as a photo-journalist, working for the Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide, and the Argus and the Herald newspapers in Melbourne. In 1953, he opened his own business and set up a photographic studio at his home at 4 Tower Avenue, Alphington, an inner suburb of Melbourne. At its peak, in the late 1960s, the Laurie Richards Studio was one of Melbourne's pre-eminent commercial photographic studios, employing twelve photographers. The Laurie Richards Studio worked mainly in advertising and public relations, and had a broad clientele which included commercial companies, government institutions and the entertainment industry.

Description of Content

"Royal Show" a male government worker explaining a space suit, worn by a mannequin, to a crowd looking at a communications display at the Royal Melbourne Show.

Physical Description

Colour 5" x 4" cellulose acetate negative.

Significance

Because of the breadth of both the subject matter photographed and the diverse businesses which commissioned the work, and the excellent documentation that accompanies the collection, the Laurie Richards Collection at Museum Victoria is an invaluable record of Melbourne's commercial and industrial past and as such gives an insight into the social history of that period.

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