Back to photostream

Circa January 1931 - No. 133 "INSIDE SHARK PROOF FENCE, COOGEE, SYDNEY, N.S.W.", Australia (restored version)

FULL ZOOM VIEWER

drive.google.com/file/d/1X12jIcG39rEV1KS7j5Q2EE_3K4dl798k...

******************************

IMAGE INFO

- Photographer's viewpoint is looking north from the Beach Street promenade beside Coogee Beach.

- I have dated this image to Circa January 1931, since:

(a) Weather-wise it appears to be circa January (mid-summer) from the dress of the bathers, & more than likely also during the School Holidays (lots of children young & old).

(b) Note there are only a few paying patrons visible on the Coogee Ocean Pier itself by this time - interest in the amusement facility died away rapidly after the hyped-up "grand opening" in November 1929, partly due to the overly-expensive entrance fees & more likely the complete lack of the once-promised on-pier attractions (no theatre, no dance hall, etc etc).

(c) The Coogee Ocean Pier Co. traded insolvent from around this time (January 1931) & had gone into liquidation by 25 May 1932. The facility would have soon after been closed to the public on safety grounds by Randwick Council in mid-1932, then it was totally demolished between Dec 1933 - May 1934.

****************************

SOURCE INFO

- One copy of a nitrate photo-negative film, 9 x 15 cm real photo postcard from the "Samuel Wood - postcard photonegatives of Coogee, ca. 1928-1932 Collection".

- The original was digitized by the State Library of New South Wales

- The digitized original is available from the SLNSW online collection here:

digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps...

******************************

CREDITS

- Samuel Wood (1876-1957) for the original B&W real photo postcard.

- Mitchell & State Libraries of New South Wales for their valuable work in digitizing, archiving & making available online this rare historical content.

******************************

COPYRIGHT STATUS

- Per SLNSW advice:

Out of copyright: created before 1955

- Regarding my own work in creating this unique cropped, restored & duo-toned version from the digitized original, I have applied "Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike".

*******************************

PROCESS INFO

- I downloaded a copy of the digitized original (very badly faded with sections of uneven exposure ).

- Using Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 8.0, I enlarged by ~94% , cropped image slightly, adjusted areas of uneven exposure, restored contrast & sharpness & used a dark sepia duo-tone curve for much better tonal range.

13,931 views
27 faves
3 comments
Uploaded on November 8, 2017
Taken circa 1931