The Library has acquired a significant pictorial collection by famed South Australian commercial photographer, Douglas Darian Smith – adding more than 100,000 unique and significant images to its collection.
The Darian Smith collection features extensive aerial photography of Adelaide and regional South Australia. A remarkable visual record, the collection illustrates the changing landscape, urbanisation and development of the city and South Australia from the 1920s until the early 1980s when Darian Smith retired.
Since receiving the pictorial collection, the Archival Collection team's first job was to scope and document the 103 boxes of material. Knowing exactly what's in the collection and how it is organised helps the archivists to develop a plan and start conservation work and digistisation.
This material will add to the Library's existing collection of Darian Smith images.
As the work continues to make this collection accessible, we will provide updates on the progress and how a collection of this significance and size makes its way from boxes to digital format.
Image: Aerial view of Henley Beach, c. 1930s.