16 November 1929 - "Coogee Beach - Opening of Shark-Proof Enclosure, 16 Nov 1929 by the Mayor of Randwick", Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (restored version)
IMAGE INFO
- Photographer's viewpoint for this stunning, massive crowd-filled panorama is looking northwards from an elevated position in a building just south of the intersection of Beach & Carr streets at Coogee.
- A report in the following day's edition of The Sun (Sydney) quotes "..Alderman Jennings stated that the official estimate of the spectators was 125,000. Many thousands of these were in bathing costume and the moment a rocket announced the fact that the enclosure was opened, they darted into the water". The Sydney Morning Herald quoted "It was officially estimated that 135,000 persons witnessed the inauguration of the Coogee shark-proof pier on Saturday afternoon". trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16602923?searchTerm=co...
- In the background can be seen the recently constructed Coogee Oceanic Pier & new shark-proof steel mesh net protected swimming area (a first in the Commonwealth) on Coogee Beach.
- The partially completed "Coogee Pier" had been opened to great fanfare in November 1928. It stretched 180m out across the middle of Coogee Beach & well into the water, boasting a capacity of 20,000 people & including a 1,400 seat theatre, numerous food outlets & restaurants, plus various other shops & arcades. It was for a short time a truly desirable tourist & pleasure-seekers facility, that helped promote Coogee as a major resort destination, similar to Brighton in England. However, unlike the calmer waters at Brighton, the pounding, powerful surf that regularly smashed into the pier with every south-easterly "blow" was unrelenting.
- Sadly for many Sydneysiders, the Randwick Council & Coogee Pier's management inevitably capitulated in the face of rapidly mounting & un-economical repair costs & the pier was finally demolished during Dec 1933-Mar 1934.
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SOURCE INFO
- One photographic print - 18 x 120 cm - panorama, consisting of 6 joined individual panels on linen, by E. B. Studios, 309 George St., Sydney. Purchased from Cahill, August 1931.
- The original 6 x individual panels plus 1 x complete panorama were digitized by the State Library of New South Wales
- The digitized original(s) are available from the SLNSW online collection here:
digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps...
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CREDITS
- E. B. Studios, 309 George St., Sydney for the original prints.
- 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, painstakingly re-assembled panorama, restored & duo-toned version from the digitized original panels, I have applied "Attribution-Share Alike".
*******************************
PROCESS INFO
- I downloaded a copy of the 6 x digitized original panels (very badly faded with lots of uneven exposure between the individual panels & one panel with a bad scan or print process blur).
- Using Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 8.0, I hand cropped, re-aligned & stitched each panel to the other end to end matching, to create a seamless panorama. Then I enlarged by ~100% , adjusted individual areas of poor exposure, restored contrast & sharpness & used a dark sepia duo-tone curve for better tonal range. Very pleased with the result!
16 November 1929 - "Coogee Beach - Opening of Shark-Proof Enclosure, 16 Nov 1929 by the Mayor of Randwick", Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (restored version)
IMAGE INFO
- Photographer's viewpoint for this stunning, massive crowd-filled panorama is looking northwards from an elevated position in a building just south of the intersection of Beach & Carr streets at Coogee.
- A report in the following day's edition of The Sun (Sydney) quotes "..Alderman Jennings stated that the official estimate of the spectators was 125,000. Many thousands of these were in bathing costume and the moment a rocket announced the fact that the enclosure was opened, they darted into the water". The Sydney Morning Herald quoted "It was officially estimated that 135,000 persons witnessed the inauguration of the Coogee shark-proof pier on Saturday afternoon". trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16602923?searchTerm=co...
- In the background can be seen the recently constructed Coogee Oceanic Pier & new shark-proof steel mesh net protected swimming area (a first in the Commonwealth) on Coogee Beach.
- The partially completed "Coogee Pier" had been opened to great fanfare in November 1928. It stretched 180m out across the middle of Coogee Beach & well into the water, boasting a capacity of 20,000 people & including a 1,400 seat theatre, numerous food outlets & restaurants, plus various other shops & arcades. It was for a short time a truly desirable tourist & pleasure-seekers facility, that helped promote Coogee as a major resort destination, similar to Brighton in England. However, unlike the calmer waters at Brighton, the pounding, powerful surf that regularly smashed into the pier with every south-easterly "blow" was unrelenting.
- Sadly for many Sydneysiders, the Randwick Council & Coogee Pier's management inevitably capitulated in the face of rapidly mounting & un-economical repair costs & the pier was finally demolished during Dec 1933-Mar 1934.
****************************
SOURCE INFO
- One photographic print - 18 x 120 cm - panorama, consisting of 6 joined individual panels on linen, by E. B. Studios, 309 George St., Sydney. Purchased from Cahill, August 1931.
- The original 6 x individual panels plus 1 x complete panorama were digitized by the State Library of New South Wales
- The digitized original(s) are available from the SLNSW online collection here:
digital.sl.nsw.gov.au/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps...
******************************
CREDITS
- E. B. Studios, 309 George St., Sydney for the original prints.
- 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, painstakingly re-assembled panorama, restored & duo-toned version from the digitized original panels, I have applied "Attribution-Share Alike".
*******************************
PROCESS INFO
- I downloaded a copy of the 6 x digitized original panels (very badly faded with lots of uneven exposure between the individual panels & one panel with a bad scan or print process blur).
- Using Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 8.0, I hand cropped, re-aligned & stitched each panel to the other end to end matching, to create a seamless panorama. Then I enlarged by ~100% , adjusted individual areas of poor exposure, restored contrast & sharpness & used a dark sepia duo-tone curve for better tonal range. Very pleased with the result!