State Records holds many tens of thousands of photographic images from the late 19th Century to the present, capturing life in New South Wales in much of its richness and diversity. The original formats of these images vary widely, from glass plates and lantern slides to 35mm negatives, colour transparencies and prints.
Our photographic digitisation program aims to bring many of these ‘hidden’ images to light, using the latest technologies. Where necessary, images appearing on Photo Investigator have had basic adjustment and manipulation for display purposes.
Photographic series - search or browse
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Photographs of Sydney taken between 1860 and 1880, NRS 15344
Photos of Sydney Harbour and environs, major buildings in Sydney, provincial centres and rural New South Wales. There is a note inside the album cover saying This album was purchased from J. Degotardi, Department of Public Works, in 1913 - price £20.
Search ⇓| More info ⇓ |Images include inner City (especially harbour side suburbs); the harbour; lightships; vessels; the Botanic Gardens and the Domain; Gasworks; panoramic views of Sydney taken from the North Shore; University of Sydney; museum; construction of the Australian Mutual Provident Society’s offices in Pitt Street in 1877; workshops at Cockatoo Island; a drawing of the post office; Victoria Barracks with the 50th Regiment on display; triumphal arches erected around the city in honour of Prince Alfred; Cooks River; residence of Mr Simms at Lane Cove; and Pye’s orangery at Parramatta. Also included are photographs of bridges at Picton, Knapsack Gully and one over the Nepean River; a railway tunnel at Picton, and construction work on the Wollongong basin.
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Pharmacists, c.1909-1917, NRS 10913
Collected by the NSW Board of Pharmacists and associated with the Board's roll in keeping records relating to people registering as Pharmacists in NSW.
Search ⇓| More info ⇓ |The series consists mainly of headshot portraits however there are also two group photographs included in the series and one photograph of a Chemist and Dentist shop owned by E.A. Harwood. While most of the photographs have information written on them identifying the sitter in the image, many of the images (including the group photographs) do not identify the people photographed.
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Photo albums of Mr L.G. Watt, NSW Board of Fire Commissioners NRS 549
These photos provide a visual account of the Commissioners' travels around NSW and parts of Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. The two albums cover 1928-1935.
Search ⇓| More info ⇓ |The photographs are generally arranged in chronological order and to some extent capture the route the Commissioners took on their travels recording where they stopped for lunch, where they stayed and any events they attended during the trip. The photographs provide an excellent snapshot of regional NSW during the late 1920s to mid-1930s and record the antics of the fire commissioners as they made their way throughout NSW and across neighbouring state borders. Images of the newly built Sydney Harbour Bridge can be found in this collection and there are also several newspaper clippings included in the photograph albums.
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Photographs of coal mines NRS 10036
This collection of images are of pit-tops and loading and transport facilities of northern New South Wales coal mines.
Search ⇓| More info ⇓ |The images depict the following collieries: Australian Agricultural Company's pits at Glebe and the Sea-pit, Burwood No.1 and 3 and Burwood Extended, Cardiff, Co-operative, Duckenfield, Dudley, Durham, East Greta, Ferndale, Gartlee, Hetton, Lambton, Minmi, New Lambton, Pacific Teralba, Seaham, Skillingworth, South Waratah, Stockton, Wallarah, Wallsend, West Wallsend and Young Wallsend. Some of the images contain the initials RS. The initials are those of Ralph Snowball a commercial photographer. These photographs were either bought or commissioned by the Department of Mines or the Department of Mines and Agriculture.
For further images by Ralph Snowball see the post – Windows to another time - Ralph Snowball’s Glass Negatives on Archives Outside.
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Government Printing Office Glass Negatives NRS 4481
Photography was a major activity of the Government Printing Office from the late 19th Century until well into the 20th, resulting in an extensive and diverse collection of photographs of life in New South Wales.
Search ⇓| More info ⇓ |Many of these were originally captured on glass plate negatives, and selected images from this series will be progressively added to Photo Investigator. The initial selection of images covers a variety of subjects, for example, street scenes (particularly around The Rocks), Gladesville Hospital, Randwick Racecourse, and the training ship N.S.S. Sobraon. The images of The Rocks in particular provide a vivid picture of inner-city Sydney at the turn of the 20th century.
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State Rail Authority: Glass plate negatives NRS 18526
These glass plate negatives include landmarks and streetscapes of the North Shore of Sydney
and include early images of Newport, Turramurra, Chatswood, Milsons Point, Hunters Hill and areas in the Lane Cove National Park.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |A number of the glass negatives were in poor physical condition and in some cases the deterioration of the original glass negative is reflected in the digital copy.
Great White Fleet - included in the series are images of the United States Fleet, also known as the Great White Fleet. They show its arrival in Sydney Harbour on 20 August 1908, subsequent celebrations and its departure on 27 August 1908.
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Photographs taken during cleansing operations in quarantine areas, Sydney NRS 12487 These are selected images of quarantine areas in Sydney,
following the outbreak of Bubonic Plague in 1900.
Search this series ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The outbreak was epidemic in scale from January to August 1900, with 303 people stricken, and 103 people dying. The photographs were commissioned as result of the outbreak, and were taken by Mr. John Degotardi, Jr., photographer from the Department of Public Works. In 1900 the Department of Health believed the first defence against the disease was the extermination of rats. This resulted in the employment of 3000 men at the height of the epidemic to catch and kill rats. Cleansing and disinfecting operations in the quarantine areas lasted from 24 March to 17 July 1900, and included the demolition of 'slum' buildings. The images provide a vivid picture of the state of the city during and immediately after the Plague, and include the interior and exterior of houses, stores, warehouses and wharves, and surrounding streets, lanes and yards.
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State Rail Authority Archives Photographic Reference Print Collection, c.1850-c.1988 NRS 17420
This series consists of a collection of photographs covering a wide variety of subjects relating to the activities of the various agencies responsible
for railways in New South Wales.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The subjects covered include, but are not limited to, the following: Railway Refreshment Rooms, Ambulances, Locomotives, Royal Tours, railway accidents and Railway Stations. As this is a very large collection, consisting of approximately 35 000 images, we will only be selecting a sample of images to highlight each subject. The images will be progressively added to Photo Investigator.
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Buildings in Sydney NRS 745
Taken by private photographers for the City of Sydney Improvement Board, these 24 photos show buildings in need of repair or undergoing alterations, as well as
views of streets showing the condition of awnings, signboards and walls of shops, hotels and private residences.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |In 1879 The City of Sydney Improvement Act was constituted as a result of the findings of the Sydney City and Suburban Sewage and Health Board regarding the poor condition of buildings and sanitation within the City of Sydney due to a lack of proper legislation and codes of building practice. The City of Sydney Improvement Board was appointed to execute the Act.
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Maritime Services Board: Glass Negatives, NRS 9856
This selection records the construction of wharves and adjoining facilities in Sydney Harbour, as well as housing and buildings in the Harbour area,
including many of the warehouses.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |Also included are images of the many different types of ships and vessels which operated on the Harbour. This selection is a small portion of the series. A full listing is available (zip file 2.8mb). State Records gratefully acknowledges the invaluable assistance of Mr Graeme Andrews, OAM, in identifying and cataloguing the Maritime Services Board images; and the generous financial support (for the production of prints from the original glass plates) organised by Mr Chris Stannard, OAM, through Sydney Heritage Fleet.
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Sydney Harbour Bridge, 1923-1933, NRS 12685
This series contains 14 albums of photographs documenting the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge from the turning of the first sod to the final steps of
construction, the official opening and the early use of the bridge by the public.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |This is an extensive collection comprising c.2000 images. To refine your search, use the options on the search page, or browse through the albums and captions in Archives Investigator (scroll down to 'Record items in this series'). Please note that 250 images are closed to public access under AD 413. A brief history of the Sydney Harbour Bridge is available in Archives in Brief 37. A list of other records related to the Sydney Harbour Bridge is available in Archives in Brief 38.
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Soldier Settlements, NRS 8095
Showing the returned
soldiers clearing the land (their families and cottages in which they lived) and being instructed in the many tasks involved in working the land.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The Returned Soldiers' Settlement Act, 1916, allowed for the settlement of returned soldiers on Crown and Closer Settlement Lands in New South Wales.
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Waagner-Biro stage machinery [Sydney Opera House], 1965 NRS12801
29 photos showing stage equipment constructed by Waagner-Biro Akitiengesellschaft, the company contracted to install stage equipment at the Sydney Opera House.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |Of the 29 photographs, two show stage machinery in the Minor Hall (now known as the Opera Theatre) of the Sydney Opera House. The remaining 27 photographs show examples of stage equipment, constructed by Waagner-Biro AG, that is similar to the stage equipment the company was to build and install at the Sydney Opera House.
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Doctors c.30 Jan 1889-c.1 Jan 1927 NRS 9873
A sample of photos of doctors applying for registration as medical practitioners
in New South Wales.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The photographs were required by the Medical Board of New South Wales from the beginning of 1889 to assist in the future identification of those issued with a licence by the Board. A copy service is being offered for this series. Copies of the photographs that have been ordered through this service will also be available on Photo Investigator once the order has been completed.
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National Parks, NRS 10738
This selection is of the Royal National Park, particularly the area around Audley.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The images are of well known landmarks in the park as well as the popular recreational areas and facilities. The images also show people boating, bushwalking and picnicking in the park.
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Public Buildings in NSW, NRS 4346
This series consists of selected photographs of public buildings in New South Wales, mounted in an album by the Government Architect's office.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The subjects include departmental buildings such as the Lands Office Sydney and Government House, court houses, general hospitals, post and telegraph offices, police stations and barracks, psychiatric hospitals, mothers and babies welfare centres, State and convalescent hospitals and university buildings. The majority of photographs are of building exteriors, but there are a small number of images showing interiors. Some of the original images were in poor physical condition. Minor conservation work on the collection was undertaken, however the deterioration of the original image is reflected in the digital copy.There are approximately 340 images in this series.
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Daceyville Garden Suburb, NRS 5225
This series of images depicts the 'Dacey Garden Suburb' (Daceyville) when it was developed between 1913 and 1918.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |The images show scenes of the area before development, road building, the types of houses built, shops, as well as the Public School.
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Franco-British Exhibition and lantern slides of NSW, 1905-1911, NRS 14086
Part of this collection of lantern slides was shown at the Franco-British Exhibition in London, 1908.
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |Many of the slides are of typical country scenes such as saw mills, dairy farms, mining, and timber felling and hauling. A number of slides depict typical NSW suburban homes of the period. There are also slides of the main buildings in which the Exhibition was held, and some of the NSW exhibits. Some of the images may have been added to the collection later for tourism and promotional purposes.
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Government House Stables, 1913, NRS 1728
This small album of photographs contains images of the exterior of the Government House stables. The photographs document the early stages of
construction to convert the stables into the premises for the Conservatorium of Music.
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New South Wales Bushmen's Contingent, 1900 NRS 1254
This series contains photographs of the NSW Bushmen's Contingent prior to their departure for the Boer War. Included are photographs of
inspection parades, a camp at Kensington Racecourse in Sydney, and the Contingent's departure on the troop ships.
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Photographs displayed in NSW trains, c.1938-c.1969 NRS 12932
This collection of images was used to decorate the interiors of country trains in New South Wales from the late 1930s to the late 1960s.
The images cover a wide variety of themes ranging from scenic country views to metropolitan Sydney and its beaches.
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Eveleigh Workshops during the 1917 railway strike, NRS 15309
The photographs show the 'loyalist' individuals who
were prepared to cross the union picket line to live and work on the railway premises during the strike. Only selected images have been
digitised, as a number of the photographs are unsuitable for scanning due to their poor physical condition.
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Scheyville Training Farm, c.1926 NRS 5529
These photographs illustrate the farm property and buildings, the training programs and aspects of daily life of the
people working at Scheyville (near Windsor).
Search ⇓ |More info ⇓ |Scheyville was a training farm for young men selected from the Sydney area, and those arriving under various British immigration schemes.
NSW Migrant Heritage Centre online exhibition »
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Baby and child health clinics and treatments, 1914
NRS 4873,
NRS 4880,
NRS 4881,
NRS 4882
These photographs document the premises occupied by the clinics, and illustrate the health services available for infants
and children in the early 1900s.
See more information about baby and child health clinics in Archives Investigator.
HINT: Select Simple Search and type baby health clinics in the title and select All words.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that Photo Investigator includes the names and images of Indigenous Australians, some of whom are now deceased.
Ordering copies
You can purchase high-resolution digital copies. On the search results page use the "Tick to order" option above the relevant entry/entries then click the "Order Form" button at the bottom of the page.
You can also download the print-friendly Order Form (PDF, 36kb)
Copies of digital images are provided as high resolution (600 dpi) jpg files on CD. The price per image is $5.00 and an administration fee of $15.00 + postage also applies.
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