The wonders of Ipswich Waterfront going on the world wide web
An archive featuring the rich photographic history of the Victorian Wet Dock - and the Ipswich Waterfront - is going on-line for the first time.
Sections of the Ipswich Maritime Trust archive, recording two centuries of history - life, work and magnificent vessels, are going live on Saturday May 28 - in collaboration with the launch of the PhotoEast Festival, at UCS on the Waterfront.
The archive features many fascinating photos, some from the early days of photography in the 1800s,
Ipswich Maritime Trust director and archivist Stuart Grimwade, has been building up the collection for many years, bringing together photos - from printed images to film and original glass plates.
The collection has grown to some 2,500 images, added Stuart and a section is being uploaded now, with more to be added over time - including when more are discovered orn donated.
Stuart said: “This represents those that are ready to upload.
“As more are discovered, and offered to the Trust for scanning, they can be added at any time.
“One of the difficulties of building such a library as this that, very often, littled is known about the original photographs.
“In the case of the Leonard Woolf collection of postcards, for example, we may know the date when the postcard was posted, baut that’s all we do know. We don’t know when the original images were taken, nor by whom.
“In most cases the original location is easy to identify.”
Photographers work featured include Robert Burrows, Albert Jasper, Gramh Hussey, Mark Grimwade, Ruth Sargeant, Bernard Westren, Brian Jepson and David Kindred.
The big advantage of posting these archive images online was that it enables the public to offer and add further information.
In some case family members might be identified, he said, or activities or events.
“It was a happy coincidence of the construction of the new Wet Dock and Fox-Talbot’s invention of photography that inspired pioneer local photographers to record the scene in this exciting new medium in the late 1840s.
“It is remarkable that these first images have survived as their unique legacy of some of the earliest photographs ever taken, and it is particularly appropriate that we can now make them available worldwide at the launch of the PhotoEast Festival on May 28, 2016 at the launch of the PhotoEast Festival on May 28 in collaboration with University Campus Suffolk.”
Stuart added: “This is part of a month long festival of photography, and featuring historic photographs of the area.
“We want people to get involved. There will be a button clearly on the homepage of our website for them to access the archive, and to give us more information.
“Members can access the website to add information too.”
Stuart will be giving a talk about the archive on Saturday May 28 at UCS and there will also be a maritime trust desk with demonstrations of accessing the archive throughout the day.
www.ipswichmaritimetrust.org.uk
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