The ANZACs together

My grandfather served in the Wellington Mounted Rifles during the First World War. In 1915, he was stationed in Madras and on Lemnos—both important supply and recovery areas for the Gallipoli campaign—and later served with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in Egypt from 1915 to 1918. Below are some photos from that time. 

I've always loved the first photo of Gtandad from 1915. He looks so young—like many others his age, he enlisted underage. In fact, my Uncle told me he turned 18 while on Lemnos.

While restoring these photos recently, I noticed something fascinating in one showing Grandad seated drinking with mates in Cairo. The man to the left of the photo is wearing an unusual uniform—note the triangle on his shoulder. After some Googling, we discovered he was a member of the Australian 27th Battalion, part of the 7th Brigade in the Second Division. The 27th was raised in South Australia and served in Egypt and at Gallipoli.

A wonderful reminder of the spirit of ANZAC Day.

Grandad in Cairo

Grandad 1915
                                           

                                                                                                                             

Grandad possibly at Lemnos

With a horse in the dessert

Grandad second from right

Restored Photos featured in "Sure to Rise: The Edmonds Story"

Congratulations to Kate, Richard and Peter for successfully completing "Sure to Rise: The Edmonds Story". It was a pleasure for me to contribute to the project by helping Kate with the digitization and restoration of many of the family photos featured in the book. Kate possessed a remarkable collection of captivating early 20th-century photos showcasing her ancestors, which were tucked away in family photo albums. I digitized and revitalized selected images. Below are a handful of before and after examples showing the damage alongside their rejuvenated counterparts ......

Before: Family group photo - original size 24.7cm by 14cm and damage detail. Restoration included removal of scratchs, tear, dust spoting and stains (See damage in enlarged details)

After: Restored Family group featured as a double page spread in the book 25cm by 42cm     

Before: Ladies on the steps showing the original photo which measured 10.8cm by 6.3cm. Restoration included cropping and enlargement; removal of dust, silvering, minor marks and correction of overexposure. Photo Credit: Dianne Gallagher

After: The Ladies on the steps as featured in the final publication 16cm by 13.5cm.

Before: Photo of Thomas Edmonds supplied by others. Restoration involved minor lens correction, removal of damage - spotting dust and fading.

After: the restored portrait featured as a chapter heading in the book. 

When was the earliest Maori photographic portrait taken?

Originally the earliest Maori photographic portrait was thought to be that of Caroline and Sarah Barrett taken ca. 1853.Ref: A71.462. https://lnkd.in/gi_3Z7f

A recent finding has now revealed an earlier portrait - that of Hemi Pomara taken in 1846 by Antoine Claudet. The hand tinted daguerreotype portrait of Hemi was taken in London (Hemi was taken to Britain in the 1840s). This portrait is in the National Library of Australia's collection and was identified by Elisa deCourcy and Martyn Jolly as part of their research for their forthcoming publication Empire, Early Photography and Spectacle: the global career of showman daguerreotypist J.W. Newland (Routledge, November 2020). See their article in the Conversation

https://lnkd.in/gDrQ-Vd

Carterworks Level 3 COVID-19 update

We are open for contact less delivery and collection of items. Alternatively you can sent items via google mail or through WeTransfer. Look forward to hearing from you.

Carterworks COVID-19 Update - we are here!

I hope everyone is keeping safe and well at home over this period.  We are here to take inquires - phone calls, emails, and digital files via our website, WeTransfer and Dropbox.   (We cannot meet in person, send out or collect physical items at this stage, but can accept electronic items)

As our business is home based we are continuing to work on a number of digitization projects and restorations which can be electronically delivered. When the lockdown period is over we can then deliver any physical copies of items.

Keep well and safe !

2018 Update and Christmas wishes

Santa riding the Wellington Cable Car into a tunnel by Jo Carter

I haven't blogged a lot this year as it has turned out to be a very busy year digitising and restoring images.  I am fortunate to work with many interesting and wonderful people ranging from individuals with one off jobs to larger scale collections.

There were projects for all sorts of occasions - wedding anniversaries, birthday parties; individual and professional genealogical and historical research projects, small archives, artists and insurance claims.  I provided images for specialist funeral headstones and digital and print displays.  I scanned, photographed and reproduced a whole range of items - documents, artworks, photos, slides, negatives.... making discoveries along the way identifying a tintype and an ambrotype (both unusual in NZ) as well as a photo over 1metre in length.....

Mid year I undertook a course on the Care and Identification of Photographs with Gawain Weaver through the Northern States Conservation Centre to hone my skills in photographic and print identification and storage.  I can now help my clients with preserving their original images as well as dating their photos....

We have also introduced a new service digitising 8mm and 16mm movies...

So from all of us at Carterworks, season's greetings and best wishes for the new year!