Photographs are a central source of evidence in some health history and curatorial practice. They might be used in exhibitions on hospital architecture and labour, interpreting the nexus between building design, ward layouts, and human labour. Other analyses might consider work culture and practice, drawing on images of equipment, uniforms, and certificates. Black and white photographs discovered in recent years have had a surprisingly different application.
One set of photos belonged to Annie Woods, a mothercraft nurse employed at orphanages for babies and young children in Victoria during the 1960s, formerly known as “baby homes”. Annie Woods’ delightful snaps are of little children at play with toys and with each other, clearly loved by the mothercraft nurses caring for them. When relatives discovered these among Woods’ belongings after her death, they wondered what to do with them. They contacted the successors of the care homes where Woods was known to have worked to enquire. Woods’ collection joined other albums, donated, in which photographs recorded mothercraft nurses’ working lives with children in care. This led to Uniting Care establishing the Mothercraft Nurse Photographic Project
Taking photographs of children in all circumstances today requires the consent of their parents or guardians. Even by 1960s standards, the mothercraft nurse photographers may have crossed a professional line. Historically speaking, one could argue that the use of Annie Woods’ photographs is unethical because the children could not have consented. The Mothercraft Nurse Photographic Project, however, has put these historical artefacts to good use, ethically. Through a dedicated project, and with careful identification and checking procedures, they’ve been able to connect some of the photographed children with their adult selves. This was only possible because, on the back of the photos, the nurses recorded the names of the children in them, just as one might in a family album.
For the adults concerned, seeing images of themselves as little children in care has not only been valuable, it’s been life-changing.
Read more on Helping people understand their past from Uniting’s website.
This article was originally published in the Autumn 2024 edition of ACN’s quarterly member publication The Hive. Members can access all past editions of The Hive on MyACN. Non-members can get a sneak peek by viewing our open-access articles.
Author: Dr Madonna Grehan MACN
References
Burin, M (2015) Unseen orphanage photos capture lighter moments in dark part of Australia’s history, ABC News, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-01/unseen-orphanage-photos-capture-play/6989372
O’Neill, C (2016) More photographs unearthed, Find and Connect blog, https://www.findandconnectwrblog.info/2016/01/more-photographs-unearthed/
Webb, C., (2023) ‘Gave us our life back’” Message of love in baby photo reunion, The Age https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/gave-us-our-life-back-message-of-love-in-baby-photo-reunion-20231129-p5enpr.html
