Seventy five year old photographs ... amazing!

Looking at the photo towards the bottom, with the village(?) and outbuildings ... the architecture looks so generic to my eyes it's hard to say where it was taken. The is a large, sturdy palm tree lurking in the background, though.

Also, there appear to be telephone/electrical wires running across the property. If this area had electrification / phone lines in the 1930's, it couldn't have been very remote (i.e. "back of beyond", as they say). But who knows.

My mother's family in the 1930's had their own DC electrical system -- they were the only ones in their area with electricity. It was self-produced.

This is a great puzzle! I can't wait to see more photos.
 
After a night's sleep and looking more closely at the pics I've come to the conclusion that these are not in the US ... so the cannister was likely marked wrong or the films have been mixed up. Not surprising I guess as who knows how many times these have been messed around with over the years.

In the shot that's taken from inside the vehicle the photographer is sitting on the left which indicates the driver was on the other side so it was a right hand drive car ... we drive on the left side of the road here! Zooming in on the rego plate of one of the cars in the first pic I can see a 'Q' at the start ... Queensland rego most likely IMO. It's definitely cattle country ... we have plenty of that here.

I'll just about bet that these were taken with a Leica screwmount or maybe a standard ... these people were wealthy and Austrian so more likely to be a rangefinder model IMO. What makes me think this is the frame spacing of the negatives on this roll ... it's extremely close and very precise which I have noticed with any screwmount I've ever used.

Scannning that first roll was riveting stuff ... I was on the edge of my chair the whole time and couldn't open the images fast enough as each one completed scanning. There was a fair bit of cleaning up to do in post with the healing brush and clone tool but exposure adjustments were fairly basic ... just re-setting the black and white points and boosting contrast slightly where needed. I'm trying very hard not to 'overcook' these in post processing and spoil the feel of them ... they need to look what what they are IMO ... images from very old negatives! That first roll consumed at least six hours so this will be a long haul ... but by the way I feel now I know I'm going to enjoy every minute of it! :D

Today is roll #2 ... stay tuned!

Oh ... and thanks for all the supportive comments. (back to the scanner!)
 
Keith said:
After a night's sleep and looking more closely at the pics I've come to the conclusion that these are not in the US ... so the cannister was likely marked wrong or the films have been mixed up. Not surprising I guess as who knows how many times these have been messed around with over the years.

In the shot that's taken from inside the vehicle the photographer is sitting on the left which indicates the driver was on the other side so it was a right hand drive car ... we drive on the left side of the road here! Zooming in on the rego plate of one of the cars in the first pic I can see a 'Q' at the start ... Queensland rego most likely IMO. It's definitely cattle country ... we have plenty of that here.

I'll just about bet that these were taken with a Leica screwmount or maybe a standard ... these people were wealthy and Austrian so more likely to be a rangefinder model IMO. What makes me think this is the frame spacing of the negatives on this roll ... it's extremely close and very precise which I have noticed with any screwmount I've ever used.

Scannning that first roll was riveting stuff ... I was on the edge of my chair the whole time and couldn't open the images fast enough as each one completed scanning. There was a fair bit of cleaning up to do in post with the healing brush and clone tool but exposure adjustments were fairly basic ... just re-setting the black and white points and boosting contrast slightly where needed. I'm trying very hard not to 'overcook' these in post processing and spoil the feel of them ... they need to look what what they are IMO ... images from very old negatives! That first roll consumed at least six hours so this will be a long haul ... but by the way I feel now I know I'm going to enjoy every minute of it! :D

Today is roll #2 ... stay tuned!

Oh ... and thanks for all the supportive comments. (back to the scanner!)
Click to expand...

We have all mislabeled folders, cannisters, slide trays, albums, but that is part of the mystery of old photos.
 
Hey Keith, that's amazing! David and Kylie have certainly got a fascinating bit of history there. That roll is definitely Australia, it'll be interesting to work out where it is. I found mention of a Tremayne Station near Broke in NSW, but it looks like the shots were taken in a more northern area (and some are obviously at the coast).

I've got my own traesure trove of negatives from a great uncle that I have to scan some time. They're mainly from Darwin and Cairns in the 1920s/30s and are all glass plates or large rollfilm negs. Most are in pretty bad shape so there's going to have to be some cleaning and/or a whole lot of photoshop to get a decent result. I've done a few and the results are just great.
 
Wayno said:
Hey Keith, that's amazing! David and Kylie have certainly got a fascinating bit of history there. That roll is definitely Australia, it'll be interesting to work out where it is. I found mention of a Tremayne Station near Broke in NSW, but it looks like the shots were taken in a more northern area (and some are obviously at the coast).

I've got my own traesure trove of negatives from a great uncle that I have to scan some time. They're mainly from Darwin and Cairns in the 1920s/30s and are all glass plates or large rollfilm negs. Most are in pretty bad shape so there's going to have to be some cleaning and/or a whole lot of photoshop to get a decent result. I've done a few and the results are just great.
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Hi Wayne,

I think a lot of these were shot along one of the inland stock routes and the whole excercise was a bit of early eco tourism for the well to do. The shot I've included has Queensland written all over it and the name on the gate says Tremayne but it's obviously not a station and there is a YWCA logo on the building ... they obviously stayed here briefly!

In the first pic the woman center right looks a lot like Kylie and I suspect this may be her grandmother ... I would love to know who actually took the photos though! :D

David and Kylie are currently in South America ... Buenos Aires I think and will be back in a month.
 

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bobby_novatron said:
Keep 'em coming! We appreciate your efforts, Keith.
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Hi Bobby,

Thanks for your keen interest in these ... but no one could be as excited as I am I can tell you! Scanning and archiving these will be an interesting experience for me ... it reminds me how fascinating recent history can be.

I'll ask your opinion here ... as I finish scanning each successive roll I'll select a batch of images for posting here but I'm thinking it may be better to start a fresh thread each time rather then keep piling them all into this thread which could become a little hard to navigate eventually. I could start a new thread titled 'Seventy Five Year Old Photographs Roll #2' later on when I finish the current roll. It sort of gives each roll it's own identity and may help me for identification of places and times etc with the feedback I get ... what think you ... and others?

I don't hold great hopes for this latest roll by the way ... it appears that there was some sort of camera problem ... lots of double exposures and light leaks! :eek:

Thanks again. :)
 
regarding the first image

regarding the first image

I think what is written on the truck is

Sentimental Journey carrier night phone 1047

No hits on a search though.
 
Good work Keith, and thanks for sharing. Is that a termite mound in the third pic? Do they have those in California? I think you are right about the geographic location.
 
These are awesome Keith - a fascinating look back in time.

Geographically, they scream Australia to me - I'd say you're quite right about it being Queensland.

You said they were taken last week, right?
 
Great to see these Keith, thanks so much for sharing them. Old photos like these are often fascinating. I really like the first one of the group, and the woman with the horse on the hill side. But I'm sure when I take more time to look at each one, closer inspection will show little things that have significance. Keep them coming please!
 
lynnb said:
...and the woman with the horse on the hill side.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's a beautiful shot isn't it?

Keith, I found reference to a Tremayne YWCA at Kirribilli (!) that operated from the 1920s:

"No.89 Carabella St
Formerly the Tremayne Private Hotel was built
and named after one of the Milson family homes
Tremayne. The house served as the Young
Women’s Christian Association [YWCA] hostel
from the 1920s. The current building was
erected in front of the original hostel building at
Kirribilli in 1938."

From: http://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/resources/documents/36_From_Milson_to_MediumDensity1.pdf
 
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If I would not know better that looks like Tathra Wharf which still stands today. And a few of the other photos look like the Bega Valley.

Great Stuff!
 
Keith–thanks for sharing these, they're really neat. I remember when we found a family photo from the 1880s... and that was just one! It sounds like the process and the mystery is a big part of the fun!!!

If you do start a new thread, please link t it here, so it's easy enough to go from one to the next.
 
Lynn's (P. Lynn) comment about the south coast made me look again at the hill village. I had earlier thought it looked like it could be Central Tilba. Now after a second look I think it almost certainly is. A very pretty place - I posted a photo of it in the gallery not so long ago.
 
Shot # 3, of the shadows of the horses -- surely from the viewing angle, the shadow on the right must be the photographer, shooting from atop the horse. Where else could the camera be? And, it looks like a woman's silhouette to me. The photographer was a woman...?
 
retnull said:
Shot # 3, of the shadows of the horses -- surely from the viewing angle, the shadow on the right must be the photographer, shooting from atop the horse. Where else could the camera be? And, it looks like a woman's silhouette to me. The photographer was a woman...?
Click to expand...



Roll #2 is now up in a new thread ... here! :)

From what I've been told by the people who gave me the negatives the photographer was most likely a woman. Kylie's grandmother, who is in amongst the images, was one of many very powerful and driven females in that family I'm told. No one seems to be quite sure who the photographer actually was though ... maybe a sister? When they get back from overseas they are going to try and find out definitely for me. :)
 
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