Ongoing display
Have you ever visited Old Treasury Building’s beautiful old gold vaults? Housed in Vault 5 is one of the most fascinating displays at the Old Treasury Building. It is a 360 degree photographic panorama, taken from the top of Parliament, of the City of Melbourne in 1862 and 2012.
The historic photographic record of Melbourne is the most popular interpretative exhibit at the OTB, and the most widely remarked-upon by visitors. The lower images taken by Charles Nettleton from the top of Parliament House show a city under development. Charles Nettleton worked as the official Royal Photographer to Australia and the official Police Photographer for over 25 years. Visible are familiar sights like the Old Treasury Building, St Patricks Cathedral and the Melbourne Club. Some long forgotten buildings are shown including the Old White Hart Hotel (now the site of the Windsor) and Chalmers Church (burnt down early 1900s), while some familiar sites are seen in their original condition including the Princess Theatre, Fitzroy gardens and Carlton gardens.
The upper images are an exact panoramic replica of Melbourne in 2012. These photographs were taken by photographer Michael Silver. Michael has been a professional, fine art and journalistic photographer for more than thirty years.
This project was funded by the Copland Foundation. With their support, photographer Michael Silver was commissioned, and permission was sought to access the same vantage point as Charles Nettleton all those years ago. In mid-summer the first series of photographs was taken. Upon examination of the result, it was remarked that little can be seen of the buildings as 150 years of tree growth was obscuring them.
Thus, a second attempt was made in the winter when the leaves had fallen. Works on the roof of Parliament further complicated the process.
Then began the project of piecing it together. With the original Nettleton panorama as a guide, the closest match available from the recent images was chosen, manipulated and locked in. Key aspects of the new vista were highlighted because of architectural merit, historical and social significance.
On Monday 5 May 2014 the Hon Heidi Victoria MLA, Minister for the Arts, officially opened the 150th Anniversary Panorama.