If you have lived in Ipswich you are sure to have heard of Whiteheads Studios, or even had your photo taken by them. For over a century they have been producing images of Ipswich and its community, from family portraits, wedding photos, school and sport photos. On Friday March 10, 2017 this well-known business will call it a day and close a chapter on Ipswich’s past.
Whitehead Studio, Ipswich, 1896-1901 (Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich)
First established in 1883 by Mr Francis Arnold Whitehead, Whiteheads Studio has been a stalwart business of the Ipswich community for 134 years. As a young boy, Francis was enthralled by the amazing process of photography and showed a keen interest in his neighbour Biggingee Sorabjee Poochee’s photography studio. As a young man he began working with the local photography company Frisco’s located in Ellenborough Street in 1880 and purchased the business when it was put up for sale, renaming it ‘F A Whitehead’, taking portrait and landscape photography. The business stayed in the Whitehead family until 2004 when it was purchased by staff from the Studio, who have nostalgically kept the family business name.
The Ipswich Library is very privileged that the Whiteheads family gave permission for their collection of photographs and glass plates to be added to the Picture Ipswich website. If you are not familiar with Picture Ipswich, this is a significant collection of historical images of Ipswich which provides a unique insight to the local history of Ipswich – its people, families, places and way of life. It is located on the Ipswich Library website. For some years now Library staff have been busy scanning and researching over 6000 Whitehead images and uploading them for posterity. The more we scanned and researched the photographs the more the staff recognised the significance of this collection, not just for Ipswich but for Queensland.
Nicholas Street buildings, looking north, Ipswich, 1956 (Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich)
These images tell the stories of Ipswich’s past and present, revealing details not seen in decades. For some photos, like this streetscape of Nicholas Street in 1956, zooming into the image is like stepping into the past: ‘walking’ down Nicholas Street you can window shop the Christmas specials and look at the decorations. There is so much information in this image on the retail history of the city, which tells a story beyond Cribb & Foote. It is also the story of the city’s lost architectural heritage. Shoppers and workers go about their business, but if you look closely, in the backseat of one of the cars, a young boy stares out of the window directly into the photographer’s lens and looks directly at us 60 years on.
Interior of London Pharmacy, 114 Brisbane Street, Ipswich, 1920s (Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich)
There is a wealth of information contained in the over 6000 images. There are the photos of people – well-known local identities and families celebrating special events. There are the streetscapes that tell the story of progress, decline, and future potential. There are the unusual and odd images, and images of pumps – hundreds of images of pumps, you have no idea how many images of pumps. Images of the local business that once lined the main streets in the centre of town and the industrial sites that show the city’s manufacturing history from railways to woollen mills, power stations to engineering works.
Cooking Demonstration at R T Edwards & Sons stand at the Ipswich Show, Ipswich, 1957 (Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich)
There are the houses showing changing tastes in architectural design. There are the sporting groups, the choirs, Queen’s Park, bowling alleys, churches, swimming baths, movie theatres and the Ipswich Show, that speak of changing tastes in leisure activities. And then there are the inside images of shops with their products on display, depicting our changing consumerism in the post-war years. Collectively, these images tell the story of Ipswich, an enviable collection for the city’s historians to research and residents to treasure.
Thank you to the ‘Whitehead’ family for sharing the history of Ipswich and for giving us moments in time we can look back at forever.