Alana - Picture Ipswich Volunteer

Alana volunteered with Picture Ipswich from 2019 to the end of 2023.  With a Bachelors degree in Creative Arts: Film, Television & Radio, Alana's contribution to Picture Ipswich has been the creation of original and creative digital content for the new Picture Ipswich website.  Alana has contributed a number of significant design elements to the new website, from the layout and look of the User Guides to the simple design of the collection hub profile pictures with their black boarder and Picture Ipswich logo, to the more elaborate profile pictures used for the Chasing Our Past At Home and Local Stories collections. 

Alana has filmed and edited a number of our Oral Histories, including the Night Soil series, the Ipswich General Cemetery oral histories, and short documentaries, such as Photogrpahed by Biggingee Sorabjee Poochee.  She is currently creating a series of short documentaries on our Architects, Builders & Tradespeople, including the video Will Haenke: Architect of the Queensland Bungalow.  As we relaunched the Picture Ipswich website, Alana was  responsible for creating the Picture Ipswich Challenge videos, designed to engage and guide users in how to use some of the new interactive features of Picture Ipswich.  Alana's latest work for Picture Ipswich was the creation of the Dad's of the Decades slideshow that was featured in Tulmar Place on Sunday 4th September as part of Galvanized's 'Bikes, Beards + BBQs' event.

At Christmas, Alana has aided and abetted our mischievous elves Shelven and Melvin, along with their reindeer accomplice, as they run amok through the Picture Ipswich collection, hidding out in images and, for Christmas 2021, staring in their own silent movie: Melvin the Naughty Steals Christmas.

Dan and Edna (Maisie) Dempsey (O'Dempsey) on their farm at Ripley, Ipswich, 1950s

The first oral history video I edited as part of volunteering at Picture Ipswich was about the history of the Ulster hotel as well as it’s owners, Dan Dempsey, and Denis Flannery. This photo of Dan shows him mimicking a night soil collector – which ties back to another oral history project.

Night Cart in Ellenborough Street, Ipswich, 1907-1910

This streetscape shows a night soil cart being pulled by two horses. I believe it’s one of if not the only photo of a night soil collector at work in the collection and I do not know of any other photos like this. I find this photo interesting because it would have been a rather mundane photo at the time, but it captures a lost history of Ipswich that I find fascinating.

Martin William (Will) Haenke (standing) with his father Johann Haenke, I.XL. Studio, Ipswich, late 1890s

I’ve chosen this photo of local Architect Will Haenke and his father because I find his story an example of making the best of what life throws at you. Will Haenke had to return to Ipswich from Melbourne where he was studying Architecture because of the death of his father. As well as the disruption to his career he also had to postpone his marriage as he provided for his family. He remained in Ipswich and continued his career here, contributing to some of our greatest buildings as a result. 

Residence, Bank of New South Wales, 95 Chermside Road, Ipswich, 1959

This photo is of a house that Will Haenke designed and perfectly captures the Arts & Crafts/California Bungalow style that he introduced to the area after being inspired by American magazines his brother had sent him. This style eventually influenced the Queenslander style, creating the Queensland Bungalow – all because of houses like this.

Taken from the bow of HMAS Ipswich (I), Tokyo Bay, Japan, 1945

I think it’s really special that we have such a photo of historical importance in the collection.

Nolan's Corner, Ipswich, 1985

On the right of this photo, you can see Rawlings shoe shop. As part of my volunteer work, I got to see the basement of Rawlings which was full of old shoes and all sorts of lost treasures like Cribb & Foote Christmas wrapping paper. It was like a time capsule of Ipswich’s retail history.