By Romy Stephens
An Ferntree Gully photographer’s work has been shortlisted in the Victorian Premier History Award, for an incredibly unique collection of Kodachrome images.
Nick Anchen’s Visions of Victoria is a book filled with historical images that were taken from the 1950s to mid-1970s.
What’s particularly fascinating about the book is that the images were all captured through Kodachrome – a high quality colour film introduced by Eastman Kodak in the mid-1930s.
Mr Anchen said it took about a decade to assemble all of the images.
“You see a lot of black and white shots of the olden days and it can look great, but what I really found attractive is high quality old colour,” he said.
“I started coming across photo collections from some old blokes. I noticed these amazing old high quality colour Kodachrome images in these blokes’ collections, we’re talking about from the early 50s, I just loved it.
“I’ve had all these Kodachrome images scanned on very expensive machines, I’ve tried to showcase Melbourne and visualise how it was in the ’50s and ’60s mainly.”
Kodachrome first became available in Melbourne in about 1952.
“It was very expensive at the time, that’s why you don’t see much old colour,” Mr Anchen said.
“You’ll see a lot of World War Two stuff in Kodachrome, super high quality stuff. The average punter didn’t have a hope to afford it.
“In 1952 it became available in Melbourne, and all of a sudden camera enthusiasts very quickly flocked to it.
“It’s just a beautiful film, it’s got a three dimensional quality to it which no other film has.”
Visions of Victoria covers the suburbs of Melbourne and some country areas. It features images of railways, trams, aviation, fashion and more.
It is one of 48 projects that have been shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s History Award.
The shortlist includes books, articles, exhibitions, websites and a digital tour that tell the stories of WWII, histories of Melbourne suburbs, regional towns, Chinese and Jewish communities, the arts and the environment across Victoria.
This is the first time Mr Anchen has been shortlisted for the award, after having entered for many years for his historical photography work.
The photographer, who has also been a train driver for 21 years, has produced numerous books. Many have focused on the history and railways throughout the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley.
Mr Anchen said he believed Visions of Victoria was shortlisted because of its broad appeal.
“The book shows the changing face of Melbourne from the 50s to the 70s, it shows how it has expanded,” he said.
“Older people are going to see stuff they remember from their childhood and younger people are going to go really? Because it really was a very different world.
“Some of the scenes look similar today, some of the country scenes look similar. Some of the stuff from Melbourne you wouldn’t believe it was the same place.”
To find out more about Visions of Victoria and Mr Anchen’s work, visit www.sierraaustralia.com.
