LOCALS will have the opportunity to step back in time this weekend with a collection of rare historic photographs showcasing Mount Gambier’s history on display at City Hall.
Presented by the Mount Gambier History Group, in collaboration with the Les Hill Collection, Mount Gambier City Council and the Mount Gambier Branch of the National Trust, ‘Mount Gambier through the Lens’ will explore the evolution of the Blue Lake city, changing landscape of the region, ancestry of local families and the methods and equipment used by local photographers over the years.
Mount Gambier History Group secretary Lynn Lowe said curating the exhibition had been a labour of love for group members.
“We will have around 700 photographs on display, though some of those will be in slide show form,” Ms Lowe said.
“We have so many photographs in our collection and we have had a number loaned to us for the exhibition – it was difficult to decide which ones to include.
“We have spent the last few weeks curating and categorising and it’s finally coming together.”
Ms Lowe said every work on display would offer a fascinating glimpse into life in the Limestone Coast during the era the photograph was captured.
“Displays will be divided into a number of categories,” she said.
“Street scenes, lakes, transport, portraits, progress – which is essentially buildings that have since been demolished and no longer exist.
“One of the slide shows features a retrospective on the old federation-style Mount Gambier Hospital, the second hospital demolished more recently and the site today.”
Mount Gambier through the Lens will be opened by patron Jim Galpin at 10.30am on Saturday.
The exhibition will remain on display at City Hall until Tuesday.
