Author: Tara Oldfield
Senior Communications Advisor
Over the last couple of years some of our volunteers have been busily digitising loose photographs contained within the Melbourne Harbour Trust collection.
The collection features black and white as well as colour photos providing a visual record of the development of the Port of Melbourne between 1880 and 1976. Photos range from portraits of Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners to shots of conferences, special events (such as Moomba!) and the physical development of the Port of Melbourne area. There are also aerial and street photographs of Melbourne and Sydney peppered throughout the collection.
Most recently occupying the digitising lab were Joy and Yasmin.
Volunteers can choose from a range of digitising and indexing projects at PROV. As artists and photographers themselves, Joy and Yasmin were quick to put their hands up for this special project.
Joy is a sculptor, photographer and director of the Sue Ford Archive and has been volunteering at PROV since early 2017, while Yasmin is also a photographer volunteering at PROV since June 2016.
Yasmin says she has a particular interest in seeing photos from around Melbourne, having come from Newcastle, she feels she is getting an education of the City. Joy herself has photographed the Port extensively for her own art projects and so enjoys seeing how things have changed over time. Both agree that some of the most fascinating photos within the collection are the ones that feature interesting angles of boats on the harbour as well as showcasing fashions of decades past, and Joy is most interested in photos of the built environment.
Many of the photos are undated and unlabeled, taken by photographers employed by the Trust. Part of the fun for researchers will be to look for clues in each image in order to be able to pinpoint the era and location of each one.
Thank you to all the volunteers who worked on the digitisation of these images over the last few years. To learn more about volunteering at PROV visit the volunteers section of our website.
Material in the Public Record Office Victoria archival collection contains words and descriptions that reflect attitudes and government policies at different times which may be insensitive and upsetting
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples should be aware the collection and website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.
PROV provides advice to researchers wishing to access, publish or re-use records about Aboriginal Peoples