Damaged Pymble panoramas brought back to life

Some years ago, the College Archivist stumbled upon a panorama of Pymble taken in 1927. Part of a collection of images taken by John H. Enemark and held by the National Library of Australia, it takes in the Avon Road vista of Pymble Ladies’ College. Zooming in to the image, there is a steam train at the station; the front gates and Sufferance entry ways lined with saplings.

The Heritage Archive holds a number of panoramas of early whole school photos and some of the grounds circa 1927. Sadly, these had been damaged over time, mounting boards cracked and one splattered with ink. However, with the benefit of technology, these images have been recreated to their original majesty.

The Archivist worked with Cie-Elle Digital Imaging who specialise in artwork scanning and fine art printing. The damaged boards were scanned at high resolution, digitally corrected and printed. They were then transferred to Art Scene West Ryde for framing. 

One image depicts the buildings on the site at the time, the three boarding houses (Goodlet, Lang and Marden), the Hall, dining and Colonnade buildings and hospital. The other was taken from the far side of the oval towards the flagpole with a hockey match in progress and buildings in background. 

The images now hang in the Heritage Archive. A beautiful exhibition of panoramas from all around the globe, titled Grand Vistas: Panoramas is currently on display at the State Library of NSW.

Written by Enid O’Carroll, College Archivist