National Archives of Australia restores panoramas of Australian life in early 20th century

The National Archives of Australia has restored and digitised about 180 panoramas taken between 1907 and 1928.The archives say it is in a race against time to digitise records before they deteriorate or become unable to be played on ageing equipment.

The 179 vistas, which were originally part of copyright applications submitted to the federal government, had been at the archives in Canberra since the 1960s.The photographs — which range in size from small pictures to panoramas up to two metres long — first arrived at the archives in a poor condition more than 50 years ago.

Each of the images had to be cleaned, gently humidified and laid flat before it could be digitised — a process which often required multiple images to be taken and then stitched together because of the size of the panoramas."They really offer insights about aspects all across the country," he said. NAA director of preservation Rod Butler said the institution wanted to ensure as many people as possible could see its collections, including future generations.

Mr Butler said the NAA's philosophy was to preserve items as if it was its last chance to do so, and if better technology came along one day, that would be used on the original again.digitise items on magnetic tape and film which could be lost by as early as 2025 due to deterioration or ageing playback equipment

Eighty years ago, the government hired photographers to capture a slice of everyday life.

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