Submit a photo and become part of our exhibition
When a loved one is leaving home, we often reach for a camera. Whether it's a family huddled on a train platform in 1920 or a young person waving at the airport departure gates in 2012 – throughout history we have collected these moments of leaving home for posterity. David Monahan's large-scale photographs in the Leaving Dublin exhibition capture the sense of adventure, excitement, hope, sadness and anxiety of those leaving their home country.
Now the Immigration Museum wants you to look into your own family album and share a photograph that captures you or your family's leaving home picture to add to our online exhibition. We are looking for a variety of photos that capture the concept of leaving home, whatever that means to you. The photo can have been taken last year or one hundred years ago, it might show you and your friends at a farewell party or your grandparents standing on the dock in front of a ship.
Horacio de Castro, Manila Airport 1980, departing from Philippines to Melbourne.
Source: Marilyn de Castro
Price and Hunter families waiting for the train on Luton station, England, beginning the journey for Australia as 'ten pound poms' in 1948.
Source: Alexandra Price
Joan Ryan, prior to migrating to Australia, Dublin, 1954
Source: Joan Cox
Kerry Murphy with her ten siblings and parents at Essendon Airport, Australia, before relocating to Papua New Guinea.
Source: Kerry Nicholas
Leaving home for Australia, this is where my ancestors the O'Learys and the Gallaghers said farewell to Ireland in the 1800s.
Image: Peter Zoeller
Source: Joan Santamaria
The Coco family at Bull Wall in Ireland, before departing for Sydney, Australia, in July 2008.
Source: Monica Jones
Oscar Mauri (standing far right), the day before boarding the steamship Toscana from Venice to Melbourne, Australia, April 1952.
Source: Tatiana Mauri
David Dellar receiving his leaving gift before departing Melbourne for further career opportunities in London. His party in Richmond drew over 100 of his family and friends to say goodbye and wish him luck.
Source: Catherine Devery
Guy Thompson's last meal before moving to Australia for study – a calzone pizza from a restaurant in Dublin arranged in the shape of Australia.
Source: Guy Thompson
Leaving Dublin for Melbourne in 2007
Source: Phil Morrissey
Delores Kenely (in the white hat) with her two sons Pierre and Guido and her immediate family, the day she left Malta to get on the boat for Australia in the 1950s.
Source: Mary Richmond
Horace Galea (Delores Kenely’s father) with grandsons Guido and Pierre on the day they left Malta for Australia in the 1950s.
Source: Mary Richmond
Flora family on board Guglielmo Marconi, at a stopover in Africa, early May 1968
Source: Lana Braithwaite
Welcome party by the local parish for the Robinson Family after leaving Belfast, 1964
Source: Peter Henderson
Arnaldo Toppazzini aboard the Neptunia from Genova to Melbourne, 1952
Source: Catherine McDonald
Demant family leaving from Heathrow, England, to migrate to Victoria, 1984
Source: David Demant
Siobanh McNamara (fifth from the left) farewelled by friends before leaving Honeypound Croom, Kerry, Ireland, October 2012
Source: Siobhan McNamara
Comedian Lawrence Leung at the farewell/wrap party of his ABC1 TV series Choose Your Own Adventure. “My editors always joked about having to sit through my over-the-top acting, so at the party they ceremoniously handed back to me the ‘ham’ they had to cut out.”
Source: Lawrence Leung
Danuta Gumienny and her daughter Justyna from Gdansk, Poland on a Qantas Flight from Frankfurt to Melbourne via India, 1983
Image: Krzysztof Gumienny
Source: Olivia Gumienny
After leaving Poland, Danuta Gumienny with her friend Gracia (from Argentina) at the Maribyrong Migrant Hostel, 1983
Source: Olivia Gumienny
A selection of photographs will also be displayed at the Immigration Gallery in the Leaving Dublin: Photographs by David Monahan exhibition.
How to Submit
Submit copies of your photograph via:
Email leavinghome@museum.vic.gov.au with JPEG or TIFF files, resolution no less than 150 DPI.
Flickr join the Immigration Museum Flickr group and add your photos with the tag "leavinghome".
In Person at the Immigration Museum Discovery Centre during the exhibition (26 October 2012 – 25 August 2013) between 10am – 5 pm.
Please include the following information about the photo as a caption:
- The names of those in the photo
- Where they are leaving
- Where they are heading
- The year it was taken
eg. Murphy family at Dublin airport leaving for Melbourne, Australia, 1992.
Read the terms and conditions before submitting a photo.