This is a photo of two of my great uncles, a great aunt and two of their cousins taken c. 1939. The backdrop is my great grandfather Mick’s 1925 Buick which appears in many photos from this era. I inherited many of Mick’s family negatives after my grandmother died. They cover a period of roughly 1927 to 1940 and are centred on the family dairy farm at Doon Doon (between Uki and Nimbin on the NSW north coast). This photo may have been taken at Kingscliff during a family outing or picnic based on information gathered from other negatives.

The photo has a wonderful rhythm to its composition and captures the character of the subjects beautifully. It was probably taken on a Kodak box brownie or 1A camera using 116 film. The exposed area of the negative measured 6.5 x 11cm (2.5 x 4.25 inches) I have re-fixed and washed all the negatives over time and they show little sign of deterioration after 80 years or so. Will the descendants of current generations be lucky enough to have a treasure like this to look back on?

The negative has now been lost or misplaced after being borrowed by one of my cousins. Luckily, I had made several high resolution scans so I can create a large digital negative from these and make contact prints on traditional silver gelatin paper in my darkroom, or large digital prints.

Robert (Bob) Egan, Ralph Cudby, Joan Egan, Rita Cudby, Walter (Wal) Egan