The State Library's Pictorial Collection attempts to cover all aspects of the State's history. Photographs are donated or lent for copying by all sections of the community including individuals, associations, clubs, businesses and local and state government authorities. Over 125,000 photographs are held.
Subject coverage includes portraits of people from all walks of life, social gatherings, dances, sporting events, business activities, rural and mining industries, transport, etc. Most subjects are well represented to 1930. Post 1930 representation is more uneven, while after 1950 the representation is poor. In addition to the subject coverage, an endeavour is made to collect representative works of Western Australian photographers and the various processes they used together with items relevant to the history of photography.
Types of material held include photographic prints (paper, glass positives, opal types, tin types, etc.) and albums, but other forms are held, including a large collection of negatives (both celluloid and glass), art works (photographic reproductions and some sketches), postcards, illustrations from published sources and colour transparencies.
Highlights of the Pictorial Collection
The Pictorial Collection contains some fascinating photographs. Have a look at these highlights from the collection.
Access to the Collection
Copy prints and photocopies of originals are available for browsing in the library. Some items are only available in albums or as transparencies or video. These are available on request. Negatives and fragile originals are not available to the public.
The copy print collection is a series of sepia toned 17cm x 12cm photographic prints of images and is arranged in alphabetical order by subject, name or place. The collection is easy to browse but contains only a sample of the overall collection. Most of the collection has been photocopied and bound in colour coded volumes in accession number order. Subjects, places, and personal or other names can be found in a card index with a reference to the photograph accession number.
From 1998 cataloguing of Pictorial Collection material has been onto the State Library Catalogue. However, the vast majority of index records to the Pictorial Collection are still not in electronic format.
While every endeavour is made to provide accurate captions and descriptions for each photograph, the Library accepts no responsibility for the information which is supplied by donors. Additional information is always welcome.
Ordering Images from the Pictorial Collection
Information on how to order an image from the Pictorial Collection is available.