Beautiful photo by Charles Nettleton of the activity on Port Melbourne Pier in 1871 when Melbourne was one of the largest and leading cities of the world.

You can almost smell the mix of sea, steam and burning coal. The exposure took quite a few seconds, and you can see that some people have moved, as well as the bobbing of the ships caused by the sea swell. Past the end of the pier, off in the distance across Hobson's Bay you can see Point Gellibrand and Williamstown.

This is a magnificent print that has had many hours of work being retouched, to present it as crisp and as clean as we can make it. 

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Photograph attribute to Charles Nettleton.

This is a digitally retouched reproduction of the original held by the State Library of Victoria. All prints are reproduced without the HOTPRESS watermarks.

Our team of conservators have worked on a high resolution digital image in order to remove blemishes and artifacts such as stains, mould and damage caused by the handling of the original. We strive to provide authentic representations of the original work that are suitable for enlargements that retain the tones and character of the original.