Images show how Ballarat has changed throughout the decades

The Ballarat Historical Society says dramatic changes across town in past decades tell “a dozen stories”. See the comparison photos of popular streets here.

Ballarat’s streets are no strangers to change, and work by the local historical society has captured and preserved marked alterations made throughout the city in decades past.

Kevin Williams of the Ballarat Historical Society is a retired photographer who was “hatched, matched, and will be dispatched” in Ballarat.

He got involved with the historical society as a hobby after retiring and now collects, scans, and files images for the group.

“I was a photographer in my work life and it was sort of just a natural extension to get involved with the old stuff because over the period of time that I was a photographer people would bring stuff into the shop,” he said.

“As a result I managed to accumulate a fairly extensive collection of historical-style stuff.

“When I joined the society they had a program called Capture The Vision and that’s where my main thrust has been.”

Mr Williams takes photos of “common views” about town that at first glance, people might not give a second thought, but that could have historical value in the future.

“In another hundred years people will look at copies of those images and think, ‘Look at the funny parking meters,’ or ‘Look at the funny cars’.

“So often while the main subject is beaut when you’re looking at the background you see so many other things that most people wouldn’t really notice.

“The original photograph is one thing, but it’s what’s in the photograph that tells a dozen other stories.”

The thrill, Mr Williams said, was in looking closely – something digital photography had made much easier.

“We’re digitising them all and the ability to look at them on a computer screen, you can zoom in on them in the background,” he said.

“The scan resolution is high enough that you see the deterioration of the paper in the original photograph rather than the pixelation.

“This is some of the benefit of being a local too, because members that are not necessarily Ballarat people, they don’t know and understand the story behind that particular image or what’s in the background of the image.

“It’s like a trip back through time.”

The historical society is turning 90 next year and is planning to publish a book of several-thousand photos, a handful of which are included above, courtesy of the society, for comparison with the Ballarat of today.