July 2025

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Hawaii
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

State of grace

I was very excited by the discovery in a country town in Victoria, Australia of 73 medium format Kodak Ektakchrome slides taken in Australia, Mexico, United States of America and Canada in the mid-1960s. I believe that the photographer was an Australian who was on holiday in Mexico, United States of America and Canada.

In nearly 40 years of being a photographer I have never seen colour medium format slides from the 1960s. There was no colour fading to the slides. The person who took the photographs was shooting medium format colour in the 1960s so they would have been a photographic aficionado. Just by holding the slides up to the light I could see the photographs were compositionally very interesting. Whoever the photographer was they had a great eye!

I can date the slides to late 1966 / early 1967. This is because of the unknown photograph of the construction of John F. Kennedy’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery (below). Construction began in 1965 and was completed on July 20, 1967. Since JFK’s grave is 2/3rds complete this would date the photograph to late 1966 / early 1967. This would also help date all the other Ektachrome slides that I have scanned as well.

The has been a journey of (self) discovery.

Firstly, I made the conscious decision not to look at the slides before scanning them but rather to randomly pick up whichever slide came next … then to take us on a journey in time and space from my studio in Melbourne – to Canada, Mexico, United States of America and different parts of Australia, in the mid-1960s.

Together, through these photographs, we can travel the planet, traversing time back to the 1960s where we can witness historic places of that era – John F. Kennedy’s grave under construction; George Washington’s house in Mount Vernon; the White House closer than you can ever get today in our paranoid era of protection.

In some ways it was a more open society in those days, more trusting and available; in others, it was more prejudiced against, for example, women, migrants, colour and difference. War never changes. Not everything changes for the better, but some things do.

Scanning these slides was a journey of self discovery. I immersed myself in their worlds… staring for hours at the scans and at the dots and scratches on the screen – cleaning up the slides and colour balancing them (see Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York City 1960s below for an example) to make them presentable. It was as much a meditative practice and an acceptance of self to keep going that was so rewarding, especially for the peace it brings my bipolar and depression. Peace and self acceptance.

I lived and breathed these images back into existence after nobody had seen them for so many years. I saved them for prosperity, from the eternity of loss of all unseen images – to not have eyes look at them for that moment of recognition, when the language of the image can be decoded and understood. When the feeling of that image impacts the senses.

I hope you enjoy this series of images, that it reaches you in all its wonderful, effervescent glory. Whoever the photographer was I want to thank them for their vision – for they have taken us to places and times we could never have gone.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

PS. Look at the two hands in the photograph Untitled (Mexican scene?) 1960s (below). It perfectly sums up a moment caught through the energy of the photographer, the camera … and the cosmos. The open hand, the shielded hand.

Just a bit about these scans: scanned at 1200dpi, 21.3Mb. Each image takes on average 1.5 hours of cleaning and balancing to achieve the end result. 300dpi jpg made from scans.

All photographs © Marcus Bunyan. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. See Part 2 of the posting.

 

 

“A good image is created by a state of grace. Grace expresses itself when it has been freed from conventions, free like a child in his early discovery of reality. The game is then to organise the rectangle.” [or the square in this case!]

Sergio Larraín Echeñique

 

 

 

Ektachrome transparency box

 

United States of America

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Grand Canyon
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Snow in the Grand Canyon
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian?)
Grand Canyon with snow
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
John looking bored, Father and Sylvia at Aunt Jemima’s Kitchen, Disneyland
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Wedding day (USA?)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

What a wonderful composition from a low vantage point. Not sure where it is but it feels USA to me…

The girl at left looking at the bride and groom, his white gloves one on one off, her yellow bride’s bouquet and the relationship to the yellow of the bridesmaid’s dress, and the two girls at right… one looking at the couple and one at the camera. Magic!

I wonder what happened to them, how long they were together. Was it a happy marriage? Did they had children and where are they now? And now all these years later to see this mnemonic device, this photograph of associations, designed to recover fragmentary memories of a happy time…

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Wedding day (USA?)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (USA)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

I am pretty sure this image is connected to the wedding photos above.

 

 

Unknown photographer (American)
Hawaii? California? coastline
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Definitely not Australia…

 

 

Unknown photographer (American)
Hawaii? California? coastline
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled [coastline]
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

I think this is the Hawaiian or Californian coastline, but unsure… the telephone pole is definitely not Australian!

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

No idea where this is (not Australia!) or what the structures are. Obviously shot out of a moving car or possibly train/bus. An interesting image nonetheless.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled [Desert scene, California?]
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled [Desert scene, California?]
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

A wonderful photograph shot contre-jour which is a photographic technique in which the camera is pointing directly toward a source of light.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Thank you to Colin Vickery who informed me this is George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
John F. Kennedy’s gravesite under construction at Arlington Cemetery (foreground) with Memorial Bridge and the Lincoln Memorial in the background. View from Arlington House
Late 1966 / early 1967
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

An important photograph! An unknown photograph of the construction of John F. Kennedy’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

Construction began in 1965 and was completed on July 20, 1967. Since JFK’s grave is 2/3rds complete this would date the photograph to late 1966 / early 1967. This would also help date all the other Ektachrome slides that I am scanning.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Grave of John F. Kennedy, Arlington National Cemetery, Washington
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Another important photograph of the temporary grave of John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery with the construction of Kennedy’s new grave ongoing in the background.

Around the grave are the caps of the services with what I think are dog leads in between? In the background in the centre is a wreath from a Boy Scout Troop. And of course, the flame…

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Arlington National Cemetery, Washington
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

This was a poor exposure and about the best I could do with the scan.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Arlington National Cemetery, Washington
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Road to Arlington National Cemetery, Washington
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

A wonderful vista with Arlington National Cemetery in the distance…

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
The White House, Washington, DC
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
The White House, Washington, DC
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled States Capitol, Washington, D.C.
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

What a great image, shot out of the front of a bus driving towards the United States Capitol, love all the old cars!

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled States Capitol, Washington, D.C.
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

I love the perspective, the shadows of the old cars, the path leading the eye towards the building and the trees framing the vista.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, New York City
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

The top image has not been colour corrected, as scanned.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
1040 Fifth Avenue NY
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Some photos are winners, some are losers… but they are all interesting. The fifteenth floor of 1040 Fifth Avenue NY was home to Jackie Onassis from 1964 to 1994.

The cars are a Super 88 Oldsmobile, 1965 Plymouth Fury Suburban S/W and 1964/65 Buick Special 4dr.

This slide was so underexposed it was very hard to get a usable scan. Colour correction was difficult.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (American landscape)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

A lovely image. Whoever took these photographs had a really good eye.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (American landscape)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (American landscape)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (American landscape)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (California)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

I think this is California?

A classic 1960s photograph. The photographer had a good eye. Los Castillo artesanos on the left hand side, a Kodak sign, and a Chevrolet if I’m not mistaken.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
American landscape with cars, perhaps Malibu, California?
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Great photo!

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Main Str Cinema, Disneyland, California
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

I don’t know what the fault is at top left, it’s in the transparency itself – so obviously something inside the camera got ‘recorded’ on film

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, California
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
General view over Universal Studios including my plane, Tammy’s houseboat, Warner Brothers in background, California
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

The photograph was taken from a “Glamor Tram” travelling around the lot. These were introduced in July, 1964. “The iconic red and white Glamor Trams, with their ruffled awnings, were staged five times a day, each lasting just over two hours, Monday through Friday.”

The handwritten inscription on the slide reads:

“General view over Universal Studios including my plane, Tammy’s houseboat, Warner Brothers in background”

“My plane” seems to be a North American P-51 Mustang. According to John Lovaas on Facebook he is “pretty sure the green space is Lakeside Golf Club, and the plane and cars in the foreground are on Universal Studios property. How many P-51s has Universal ever had on their lot? A finite number!”

He states that the P-51 is most likely the plane 44-72739 N44727 “Man O War” which was the plane at Universal Studios between 1955-1970. I can’t see a houseboat at all!

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
‘Battle Hymn’ North American P-51 Mustang
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

A closer look at the North American P-51 Mustang that featured at a distance in the slide above.

The text written on the slide reads: “Me and plane used in “Battle Hymn”.”

“‘Battle Hymn’ is a 1957 American war film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson as Lieutenant Colonel Dean E. Hess, a real-life United States Air Force fighter pilot in the Korean War who helped evacuate several hundred war orphans to safety… Hess promises her he won’t see combat, since he will be the senior USAF advisor / Instructor Pilot to the Republic of Korea Air Force, only serving as a teacher and flying F-51D Mustangs. …

In order to replicate the ROK unit, the 12 F-51D Mustangs of 182nd Fighter Squadron, 149th Fighter Group of the Texas Air National Guard were enlisted by the USAF to provide the necessary authentic aircraft of the period. During filming, an additional surplus F-51 was acquired from USAF stocks to be used in an accident scene where it would be deliberately destroyed.”

Text from the Wikipedia website

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Sylvia and ship used for McHale’s Navy, Universal Studios
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

The title was written on the slide.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
San Francisco with Golden Gate Bridge (in the background)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
View over San Francisco
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Car and river, USA)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Lovely photo, great shadows. I have no idea where this is…

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (woman and car)
USA, 1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Left hand drive car so this must be the United States of America.

 

Canada

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Place Ville Marie, Montreal
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Cathédrale Basilique Marie Reine du Monde, Montreal
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Cathédrale Basilique Marie Reine du Monde, Montreal
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Interior, Cathédrale Basilique Marie Reine du Monde, Montreal
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Downtown Montreal, intersection of Blvd de Maisonneuve Ouest and Metcalfe St, looking toward Mont Royal
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

Mexico

  

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Cuernavaca Cathedral, Morelos, Mexico
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Chapultepec Castle, Mexico City
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

This is Chapultepec Castle, site of the National History Museum, México City. The soldiers are wearing Mexican helmets of the M1 pattern with regimental insignia on the front.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Mexico)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Mexico)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Hotel Borda, Cuernavaca
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

A view of the “Hotel Borda” which still exists in Cuernavaca a town just south of Mexico City.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Mexico)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

I can make out the words “Gloria”, “Dios”, and “Paz” in the sign on the right hand side.

 

 

Unknown photographer (Australian)
Untitled (Mexican scene?)
1960s
Ektachrome medium format transparency scanned

 

 

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