The Story and Our Mission
In 2013, Fairfax Media sent the two million photograph archive of the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper to a company in Little Rock, Arkansas, to be digitized. In addition to news photos, hundreds of fine art photographs from well-known Australian artist-photographers (Max Dupain, Wolfgang Sievers, David Moore, Olive Cotton, Jeff Carter, and others) were buried deep in the archive for over 40 years.
Unfortunately, the digitizing company was disbanded before the scanning could be completed, leaving the fate of the archive hanging in the balance. A court receiver eventually took over the management of the work, adding to the uncertainty.
From the turmoil in the digitising company, and related bankruptcy, the archive eventually became bank-owned and in jeopardy of being destroyed. After much discussion and negotiation, Duncan Miller Gallery in Santa Monica, CA bought the entire collection of vintage photos to repatriate these historical artefacts back to Australia.
We actively seek Australian citizens, museums, libraries, public galleries, institutions, and associations that want their historical documents.
“I applaud the efforts you are making to help return portions of the Sydney Morning Herald photographs to Australia.””
Over 50 Australian Institutions have received their historical Photo-documents
Partial list: The National Library of Australia, The National Maritime Museum, Museum of Australian Democracy, The Sydney Opera House, The Bradman Museum, War Memorial, Parliament House, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Beleura House, Australian Football League, Canberra Museum, Australian Federal Police, Sydney Tramway Museum, Blacktown City Library, Clarence Regional Library, Camden Library, Strathfield Council, Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council, Inverell Shire Public Library, Cessnock Shire Council, Mid-Western Regional Council, Hawkesbury City Council, Stanton Library, Leeton Shire Council, Fairfield City Council, Midcoast Libraries, Lake Macquarie City Library, Mosman Library, Central West Libraries, Castle Hill Library, Kiama Municipal Council, The King’s School, Armidale Regional Council, Yass Valley Library, Barker College, Coffs Harbour City Libraries, Waverley Library, Liverpool City Library, SCEGGS Darlinghurst, Water Polo Australia Limited, Maitland City Council, Bega Valley Shire Library, Singleton Council, Lane Cove Library, Cities of Canberra, Newcastle, Wollongong, and others.