Scroll Down for December 2022 Update
Attention People of Lemnos Parade
The University of Newcastle Hunter Living Histories Team is searching for a resident of Lemnos Parade Newcastle to assist in creating a “then and now” photographic panorama of Newcastle, originally taken by legendary photographer Ralph Snowball in 1906.
Ralph Snowball’s 1906 Panorama Restored in 2021
As outlined in our original post last year located here: https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2021/10/15/1906-panorama/ the original 1906 panorama was identified by the late Russell Rigby in 2010, but there was a missing piece.
The missing piece turned up in Melbourne in 2021, located online by Robert Watson. Robert contacted the owner, Professor Leon Bren. Professor Bren kindly donated the original glass negative, along with a collection of others, to the University of Newcastle’s Special Collections in the Auchmuty Library.
Then and Now 1906/2022
At the March 2022 meeting of the Hunter Living Histories, Robert Watson released the first attempt at a 1906/2022 “Then and Now”.
It consisted of the original reconstructed 1906 Panorama, with another created recently by photographer David Diehm. (see above).
David is a very accomplished Newcastle photographer who has published books of panorama shots of the beaches and city. He used a drone camera to capture the panorama. He has kindly provided his permission to use the image.
Why Lemnos Parade?
David Diehm and Robert Watson tried to locate exactly where Snowball had taken his original 1906 images. We had originally thought that Ralph Snowball had taken his 1906 images from the Obelisk site, but apparently not so.
The Drone photograph taken at an elevation of 15 metres above Lemnos Parade. However, the definition with David’s drone camera isn’t as good as Snowball’s camera that took the glass negative images 116 years ago.
So, if we can find someone who lives in Lemnos Parade, David will use his better camera to get more definition if he can get access to their roof.
Where Exactly in Lemnos Parade?
Lemnos Parade is a kind of split level affair, so on the eastern side there are garages straight onto the street and big trees opposite. So the photographer needs to be on the first level of a house. “A house which has a straight view to Mt Sugarloaf” is basically what we need.
So if anyone can assist, please leave a comment and we will be in touch.
The 2022 Drone Panorama Shot by David Diehm (1 December 2022 Update)
We would like to thank the Lemnos Parade residents Irene Saltos and her neighbours Fiona and Phillip Bush for the use of their rooves and verandahs in obtaining the 2022 drone panorama.
The drone panorama shot was taken on Tuesday 22 March 2022 at approx. 12:30pm.
We present Ralph Snowball’s original 1906 Panorama with David Diehm’s 2022 Panorama below.
Commentary
Firstly, the three panels labelled “[View from the Obelisk]” in the Ralph Snowball Archive included in the Norm Barney Photographic Collection can now be positively relabeled “View over Cooks Hill”. These are definitely not taken from the Obelisk.
This fifth panel is the curious one. Dr John Turner’s book attributes the original Sea Pit photo to Local Studies in town. However Local Studies’ Photobank attributes their photo to John Turner’s book! Real chicken & egg stuff. Mr Robert Watson has made a formal request to Local Studies to check if they have Snowball’s glass plate, and remains 10% confident that they will have the glass version stored somewhere.
This post compiled with the assistance of Robert Watson,
by Gionni Di Gravio, OAM
University Archivist & Chair, Hunter Living Histories
I live on the corner of Lemnos and Anzac Parade and have a spectacular panoramic view from my elevated verandah. A photographer is welcome to use the vantage point of my outlook to recreate the panorama.