Collective City Melbourne: Historical meets contemporary
July 30, 2023
The Victorian Archives Centre (VAC) has launched the Collective City photo exhibition, a display of historical archival pictures of Melbourne showing alongside contemporary images submitted by street photographers.
Adam Sinclair’s submission, ‘The Passenger’. Source: VAC.
The Collective City photo exhibition, showing now until December 1 at the VAC Gallery in North Melbourne, features work ‘explores the moments of joy and connection that happen in our public spaces, between friends, family and strangers’.
‘It also highlights the ways people can feel disconnected or lonely in a crowd, and the divisions created by inequity of access to services and public spaces,’ the website states.
The historic images of Melbourne were drawn from the state and federal government archives. And the contemporary images were submitted after the VAC called for photographers to submit images ‘that capture real moments’.
The exhibition features images by Cathrin Plunkett, Francesca Donnoli, Gonzzalo Palta, Shiang Liew, Sally Coggle, Mark Davidson, Mike Reed, Nathan Coote, Andrew Wilson, Adam Sinclair, Jane Hinwood and Ilana Rose.
The VAC Gallery has hosted similar exhibitions featuring historical and contemporary pictures of Victoria. Over the years work has been shown by the likes of Mark Forbes, Andrew Tan, Ilana Rose, Cathrin Plunkett, Andrea Esposito, Christopher Hopkins, Wayne Quilliam and others.
Click here for more info.
Sally Coggle’s submission, You Make Me Feel So Good. Source: VAC.
An image of Royal Melbourne Hospital in the 1950s, highlighting the long journey the man on crutches had to make to get to his appointment, in an era before accessible parking permits, and wheelchair ramps etc. Source: prov.gov.au
Holidaymakers: The 1960s were an era of leisurely paced travel, where passengers regularly chose ships, rather than aircraft to take them to their international destination. Passenger liners varied greatly in price and comfort, from the workhorse migrant liners to luxury cruisers. The passengers in this image are enjoying the facilities aboard the Sitmar flagship TSS Fairsky, which brought British immigrants to Australia throughout the 1960s and 1970s and began purely recreational services in 1962. This photograph was used in promotional material advertising Sitmar’s luxury cruises to Victorian holiday makers. Source: prov.vic.gov.au
Woman In Black: A stream of commuters make their way up an old timber footbridge despite Footscray Council’s repeated requests to the Railway Department to replace it, arguing the narrow and out of date ramps were often an obstruction for users. Many complained that this was inadequate for a station where the volume of traffic was second only to that of Flinders Street. The stark contrast of the lone woman in black making her own way away from the bustling crowd draws the eye, and highlights the many women in the scene who are travelling professionals in their workwear and carrying suitcases. From the 1920s, commerce and public administration were predominantly female occupations, clerical work in particular. Despite their professional contribution, their wages, on average were only 54% of the basic male wage and their participation in the workforce was considered secondary to their domestic responsibilities. Source: prov.vic.gov.au
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