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Duane Delves Into Local History

Story: Redcliffe Guide
Published On : Feb 28, 2018
Duane Delves Into Local History
Duane Hart has a passion for pictures. A Redcliffe local for the past 20 years, he owns and operates Peninsula Framing in Comino's Arcade. He has collated an archive of historical images from the local area in an attempt to piece together a more comprehensive picture of the visual history of the Peninsula.

As well as collecting land sale maps and old postcards, Duane has also actively searched to find local images from the past. 

I went through the State Archives obtaining high-resolution images of all the paintings and photos taken of Redcliffe from the late 1880s and early 1900s.   

My main business is restoring old photos for local customers, so I've also had a number of local families bring their old family history scrapbooks in,ť he says.

His biggest challenge so far has been to piece together a 1918 panorama of the Redcliffe Jetty.

It took three months to colourise. I studied the colour of the cliffs and vegetation along the Redcliffe foreshore and slowly pieced it together, colouring all the buildings along from the old Seaview Boarding house to Oyster Point at Scarborough,ť he says.

To colour the images, Duane researches old museum photos of the fashion worn at the time, and the colours used in building and brickwork to ensure his work is accurate.

A lot of the early postcards were heavily colourised and many were printed in Prussia in the early 1920s so they guessed a lot of the colours back then,ť he says.

It was a natural progression to publish a book of historical images. While the first print run has all but sold out, Duane hopes to reprint a second edition of the book with some new (old) additions in the coming months. A slideshow of images from the book is also available to view online for free at www.redcliffebook.com

I will be doing another soft cover second edition in the next few months, and they will be available at a few select locations including the Old Fire Station Gallery and the Redcliffe Museum,ť he says.

Duane's restored images can be viewed throughout Comino's Arcade, and at the Redcliffe Emporium market hall, where he also screens a 30-minute movie about the history of Redcliffe.    

If you have historical images to contribute to Duane's archive, Peninsula Framing is open Monday to Saturday.