Sydney Harbour Bridge long exposure from 1932

Update 20/12/2012: Collection of high resolution images are now available via the Powerhouse Museum online collection and Flickr Commons.

This 1932 photo of the Sydney Harbour Bridge deck being illuminated is part of a series of glass plate prints originally taken by the Department of Public Works between 1923 and 1933. Various prints have been acquired by both the State Records NSW and the Powerhouse Museum. This long exposure photo was taken during illumination tests, prior to bridge opening and most likely just before load testing commenced.

Images such as these will soon be featured in a free Sydney Harbour Bridge historical walking tour in production for iOS and Android devices. Our reproductions from this series will also be made available on the Powerhouse Museum’s Flickr Commons. For more information on the original glass plate negatives, greater series and contents please see the State Records of NSW and State Records Archives Investigator.

Photographer: Unknown
No known copyright restrictions

Tags: 1930s, black and white, construction, Harbour Bridge, long exposure, Sydney, Sydney Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, sydney harbour bridge construction, transport

The Powerhouse Museum's Photo of the Day blog features a new image each day, chosen from the Powerhouse Photo Library.

The majority of these images have been taken by Museum photographers for a variety of purposes such as for exhibitions, of objects in our collection, events, behind-the-scenes and location shots. We also feature many images taken by our Flickr community and from our visitors. We hope you enjoy the photographs and stories.

The licensing of each image varies however we are trying to release as many as possible under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.1 license.