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Melbourne's Biggest Family Album Collection
Image: Digital Photograph - Four Girls in Shallow Water, St Kilda Beach, circa 1910
Source: Museum Victoria
In 2006 Museum Victoria embarked upon a community collecting project with past and present Melburnians, who searched their private albums for their favourite photographs of Melbourne. Over 1000 family photographs were collected for 'Melbourne's Biggest Family Album'. Selected photographs are featured in the 'Melbourne Story' exhibition, and the collection is also accessible through the 'Melbourne Story' exhibition website: http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whatson/current-exhibitions/melbournestory/bfa/
These wonderful images have opened up many new perspectives on Melbourne's history, and provide evocative, personal insights into life in Melbourne from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. More than just records of individual family life, these photographs are a wonderful resource for exploring the history of communities, places and events.
Featuring approximately 170 Melbourne suburbs, the photographs depict people of all ages, from a range of cultures. Melburnians are captured at home, on the streets, working, celebrating, travelling, playing and mourning. These photographs also show some of our city's hidden histories - people travelling on public transport, hanging out their washing, browsing inside shops, sleeping in their bedrooms, and washing in the bathroom.
Project Background
The Biggest Family Album concept is based around the copying of photographs rather than the donation of originals, meaning that families retain their precious photos, while archival copies are held at the museum. For this project, the copying was done in digital format using a high resolution digital camera.
The Melbourne collecting project was conducted in partnership with four public libraries, in Beaumaris, Box Hill, Broadmeadows and Footscray. Library staff and local council officers supported and promoted the project, while ABC radio, community newspapers and The Age newspaper assisted with publicity.
Over 120 contributors responded enthusiastically to the invitation to share their photographs, with most bringing several generations of family photographs with them. Contributors also often came along with a family member who could help with accurately documenting the photographs. They brought with them not just photographs, but stories, emotions and a passion about their place in history. More than a few tears were shed as personal anecdotes were remembered and recounted to museum staff.
The Biggest Family Album in Australia Collection
Melbourne's Biggest Family Album Collection was based on The Biggest Family Album in Australia Collection project, undertaken by the museum in the 1980s and 1990s, to collect copies of family photos from rural and regional Victoria. This pioneering project was immensely successful, resulting in a collection of over 9,000 photos dating from the 1890s to the 1940s. These photographs continue to be a resource for the entire community, appearing in education programs, history books, exhibitions, student projects, and community projects. http://museumvictoria.com.au/bfa/
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 41 - 50) 1071 items
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Digital Photograph - Mother & First Baby in Kitchen, First Day at Home, Elwood, 1950
Contributed by Mrs Patricia Morgan
From: Elwood, Australia Images: 1 -
Digital Photograph - Control Laboratory, Monsanto Chemicals Australia, Footscray West, 195 ...
Black and white photograph featuring a man working in the Monsanto Chemicals Australia control laboratory, in Footscray West in December 1956. David Meale, who took this photograph, w ...
From: West Footscray, Australia Images: 2 -
Digital Photograph - Holden Brothers Circus, Man Cooking Over Fire with Woman Watching, ci ...
A man crouching over a fire, cooking in a frying pan, with a woman standing behind. This photograph shows a man cooking over a fire at the camp site for Holden Brothers Circus, circa 1 ...
Images: 1 -
Digital Photograph - Mother with Baby in Cane Pram, St Kilda, late 1930s
Contributed by Mr Frank Starkey
From: St Kilda, Australia Images: 1 -
Digital Photograph - Men Eating at Mess Hall, Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Cen ...
Black and white photograph showing men in the Mess Hall at Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre, 1950. This photograph documents the Kucan family history. In 1949 the Kucan ...
From: Bonegilla, Australia Images: 1 -
Digital Photograph - Coles Store Decorated for Melbourne Olympic Games, Showing Batman & C ...
Contributed by Mr David Meale
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 2 -
Digital Photograph - Holden Brothers Circus, Man Holding Baby in front of Circus Caravan, ...
A man holding a baby in front of a circus caravan in an open field. This photograph shows Danny Dealma of Holden Brothers Circus, holding Francis Holden's son Frankie, early 1940s. One ...
Images: 1 -
Digital Photograph - Two Boys, Three Girls & a Wooden Surf Ski, Carrum Beach, 1972
Black and white photograph featuring the Liddell family children - Shane, Craig, Bernadette and Maree, and their cousin Mary Wade, in the shallows at Carrum Beach, 1972. According to th ...
From: Carrum, Australia Images: 2 -
Digital Photograph - Men's 110 Metres Hurdles Race, Australian Olympic Athletics Trials, M ...
Contributed by Mr David Meale
From: Melbourne, Australia Images: 1 -
Digital Photograph - Two Women Dressed for Outing, Footscray Park, circa 1945
Contributed by Mr Ian Johnson
From: Footscray, Australia Images: 1
