My Grandfather’s Album
In March 2011, a much-anticipated parcel arrived at my door. A few weeks earlier, I had been contacted by Gwen Collis (nee Leathbridge), wife of Neville Collis and a daughter-in-law of my great-uncle Keith Kenneth Keppel Collis. Over the years she had done considerable research into her husband’s family history and in the course of her investigations had found an old photograph album under a bed. Flicking through it, she realised that the album had belonged to my grandfather George Gravin Collis – Keith Collis’s brother.
In an act of incredible kindness, Gwen decided that I should have this link with my grandfather’s past and gifted it to me. It is now one of my most prized possessions.
Photograph album belonging to George Collis, 1930’s. Original held by the author, Kyneton, Victoria.
The album measures 32cm x 21cm and consists of a front cover, a back cover and 12 pages bound together by a cord tie.
The covers are made of a pale olive-green cardboard material, textured with a woven-like pattern. The edges of the covers are worn and flaking from many years of use.
In the left upper corner of the front cover is an embossed profile of a woman with long tresses that is surrounded by a circular frame adorned with flowers. The residue of adhesive tape can be seen on the right-side edge of the front cover.
The original tie was a black cord that has perished and fallen away. It is preserved in a small Mylar sleeve and has been replaced by a brown shoelace.
Each of the 12 pages has four frames on each face, providing space for 96 photographs.
There are handwritten captions below each frame, indicating that the album initially contained 96 photographs. Sadly, 14 of the frames are empty, leaving a total of 82 photographs.
The photographs are sepia Kodak prints that have a white border and measure 11.5cm x 7cm. All but 23 of the photographs are dated. The dates range between 1928 and 1932 and the photographs are not displayed in chronological order.
This type of album is typical of those in use in the early part of the twentieth century. Prior to the turn of the century, pages in photograph albums were usually connected or joined to each other. As photography became possible for the general public with the advent of the box Brownie camera, there was a need for people to keep their growing collection of photographs organised, and albums that had their pages held together by ribbon or cord became popular.[1]
It is not possible to be sure what kind of camera was used to take the photographs, however the inexpensive Kodak Box Brownie style camera had made amateur photography widely accessible by the 1920s and 1930s, and this was likely the type of camera that was used.
The type of film used was most likely 120 film. This was introduced in 1901 by Kodak for their Brownie No. 2 camera and was the primary format for amateur photographers until 35mm film became available.[2] Kodachrome 35mm film was not available in Australia until 1937.[3]
The photographs are all snapshots, the subject matter of which includes family members (individuals and groups), buildings and locations, farm animals, pets and holiday snaps. The handwritten captions beneath each photograph refer to many of the people by their relationship to the author, for example ‘Ma mére et ma soeur’, ‘My brother Bill’, and ‘My sister and her friend’. There is also a photograph captioned ‘A Party – Queenscliff 1928. I on extreme left’. These captions, and my knowledge of the people in the photographs, confirm that the author was my grandfather George Collis. I also recognise his handwriting.
Page from photograph album belonging to George Collis, 1930’s. Original held by the author, Kyneton, Victoria.
The photographs that George chose to display in the album give an insight into his character and personality.
He was born in the small Victorian town of Yarram in 1908, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews lived nearby.[4] Fifty-seven of the photographs in the album are of George’s mother, siblings, or cousins, suggesting that they were a closely-knit family who spent considerable time together.
A photograph dated 1928 of George and some friends at a picnic in Queenscliff in Victoria shows a relaxed and carefree group, the men dressed as women and women dressed as men. There are also several photographs of young women that George refers to as ‘a friend of mine’. He appears to have had a light-hearted and active social life in his twenties.
The inclusion and detailed labelling of photographs of his sibling’s homes, and four photographs of the not-yet-complete Sydney Harbour Bridge dated 6 July 1930, point to a man who had a desire to record the present for the future. When I reflect on his approach to recording this short period in his life, I feel a strong connection to my grandfather. I too, have created many photograph albums to document my life experiences in precisely the same manner.
Page from photograph album belonging to George Collis, 1930’s. Original held by the author, Kyneton, Victoria.
The photographs in the album offer a small insight into the life of George Collis, and the missing photographs can perhaps tell us something about the life of the album itself.
Based on the captions, of the 14 photographs that are missing 13 are of people. Six captions refer to George’s sister Gray, three refer to his brother Keith, one refers to his brother Bill, and the remaining three refer to his nieces Peggy and Betty Devonshire.
This could indicate that the album has changed hands over the years. George died in 1976, and it may be that the album passed to siblings Keith or Gray, who may have removed photographs that had personal meaning for them.[5] George’s brother Bill had died in 1956.[6]
The most likely provenance of the album is that after George’s death, it eventually made its way to Keith, who passed it to his son Neville, whose wife Gwen so generously passed it to me.
References
[1] Gustavo Lorenzo, ‘History and Conservation of Albums and Photographically Illustrated Books’, Advanced Residency Program in Photographic Conservation, May 2007, p. 17, https://www.academia.edu/17368690/History_and_Conservation_of_Albums_and_Photographically_Illustrated_Books.
[2] The Dark Room. ‘A guide of popular film formats’. https://thedarkroom.com/film-formats/, accessed 5 November 2020.
[3] Art Gallery NSW. ‘The photograph and Australia: timeline’. https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artsets/51b88k, accessed 5 November 2020.
[4] Birth certificate of George Gravin Collis, born 26 June 1908, Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, 1496/1908.
[5] Death certificate of George Gravin Collis, died 7 January 1976, Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, 1180/1976.
[6] Death register entry of William Thomas Collis, died 1956, Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, 24424/1956.
Bibliography
Art Gallery NSW. ‘The photograph and Australia: timeline’. https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artsets/51b88k, accessed 5 November 2020
Bellis, Mary, ‘The History of Photography: Pinholes and Polaroids to Digital Images’, ThoughtCo, 30 May 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-photography- and-the-camera-1992331, accessed 1 November 2020.
Diary of George Gravin Collis, original held by the author, Kyneton, Victoria.
DigiCamHistory.Com. http://www.digicamhistory.com/, accessed 2 November 2020.
Fineman, Mia, ‘Kodak and the Rise of Amateur Photography’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2004, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kodk/hd_kodk.htm#:~:text=By%20far%20the%20most%20significant,100%2Dexposure%20roll%20of%20film, accessed 1 November 2020.
The Brownie Camera Page https://www.brownie-camera.com/, accessed 2 November 2020.
The Dark Room. ‘A guide of popular film formats’. https://thedarkroom.com/film-formats/, accessed 5 November 2020.
Lozano, Gustavo, ‘History and Conservation of Albums and Photographically Illustrated Books’, Advanced Residency Program in Photographic Conservation, May 2007, https://www.academia.edu/17368690/History_and_Conservation_of_Albums_and_Photographically_Illustrated_Books.
Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages.