THE launch of a new book featuring his photographs is the latest chapter in the ever-unfolding history of Angus McNeil.
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‘Images on Glass’ is the second volume of reproduced prints from the late Kempsey photographer’s collection.
It has been compiled by Macleay River Historical Society volunteers Judy Waters and Debbie Reynolds, who have painstakingly and lovingly worked for many years on a seemingly unending project.
The pair has been engaged in cleaning up Australia’s biggest collection of glass negatives, scanning them into digital print form and cataloguing them on computer.
Mrs Waters looks after the cataloguing, while Mrs Waters takes care of the cleaning and scanning.
McNeil’s slides capture just about every aspect of Macleay life from the late 19th century until 1944, during which time he ran a photographer’s studio in Belgrave St, Kempsey.
The slides were removed as the building was about to be demolished and found various homes across the valley. It was estimated the historical society had managed to recover half a million before they were transported to Sydney’s Australian Picture Library.
They were returned to Kempsey and the ladies embarked on their mission to process the negatives on to computer.
So far, they have managed to preserve tens of thousands for perpetuity.
“I never get sick of looking at them,” Mrs Waters said.
"The subjects’ names are often etched on to the glass and for those that aren’t we look hard for the name from old (Macleay) Arguses and Chronicles and go from there.”
Mrs Reynolds said she has spent two or three days a week cleaning the glass plates, most of which are in the 10X8 (inches) format.
“I’ve found my great-great-great-grandfather in a photo,” she said.
"My quest is to find my mother’s side.”
The new book is similar to the first, in that it features photographs in a range of themes.
“We let the pictures speak for themselves in the first book,” Mrs Waters said.
“This time the captions are more substantial and help to tell the story.”
The slides are catalogued with keywords, allowing the ladies to call up the various themes.
“We’ve included weddings and children’s photos, which tend to be popular with women,” Mrs Reynolds said.
“There are cars and boats, which tend to be popular with men.”
Choosing so few photographs from such a vast range has been easy enough for the pair, and they have found it easy to come to agreement.
Images on Glass will be launched officially on Sunday. For more information, call the society on 6562 7572.
