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Battye Library joins PictureAustralia

Federal poll 1900

Two boys pull a billy cart

The State Library of Western Australia’s Pictorial Collection, held in the J.S. Battye Library of West Australian History, includes the most comprehensive collection of Western Australian photographic images, prints, drawings, and postcards. This unrivalled collection depicts life and scenes in Western Australia , from the earliest days of colonisation to the present. The images include daguerreotypes and other early photographic formats, black and white prints, negatives, colour prints and transparencies, and digital images. More than 12 000 of these images can be found in the State Library’s online pictorial catalogue, which has recently joined Picture Australia .

The Pictorial Collection holds images dealing with a wide range of historic moments and subjects with an emphasis on the everyday life of Western Australians. Images are drawn from agriculture, mining, social life, architecture, townscape and landscape and portraiture. There is a good collection of significant images for those researching the experiences of the state’s Aboriginal peoples. Also held are some important artworks, sketches and paintings from the early nineteenth century, although past and present concerns have been to acquire photographic material from the mid-1800s to the present day. Indeed, the bulk of the collection features black and white photographic prints and negatives from 1880 to 1960.

The collections are a rich resource for researchers, students, family historians and the general public. Many of the items in the Pictorial Collection relate to letters, diaries, and other materials held in the Battye Library which provide details and further insights into Western Australia ’s past.

All of the photographs currently on the State Library’s catalogue will gradually be added to PictureAustralia. As new images are made available on the catalogue they too will be featured on PictureAustralia.

Brian Stewart

Manager, Battye Published Collections
J S Battye Library of West Australian History
State Library of Western Australia