Historian Allan puts home town in the picture
For historian Allan Frost, his work to compile his latest book charting a pictorial history of changing Wellington hit upon a problem which may see future historians tearing their hair out in frustration as they seek to tell the story of our times.
"Wellington in the 1980s and 1990s" takes the story to the advent of the digital, social media, age - and therein lies his problem.
"It is a reflection of the growing popularity of social media which is leading to a dearth of suitable photographs that reflect what was going on in the town at the time, and what the town looked like," said Allan, who was born and brought up in Wellington, and lives now in Priorslee.
"I find this more and more. People through social media are copying stuff, plonking it online, and sending it to friends. What they don't do is save them. They don't have proper copies or photo albums. Trying to produce a book for this period has been a nightmare - and it's getting worse."
With fewer newspaper pictures also being taken, Allan says the upshot is a smaller pool of suitable and varied images from which to choose.
"Normally I have lots and lots of pictures of individual shops, shopkeepers, and thinks like that. The late Fred Brown gave me permission to copy his photographs, and I'm so grateful, as he used to walk around the streets taking photographs of all sorts of things. I haven't had the luxury with this book. It's nice as a historian to have a choice."
There was however a benefit of sorts - the limited number of pictures available meant the book was quicker to write.
Another factor, he says, is that the 1980s and 1990s saw the use of disposable cameras with plastic lenses, meaning results of lower quality.
The book is the latest in a series Allan has compiled covering 20-year periods in Wellington's 20th century history, and has no plans for one to cover the period to the present day as he says that, from a historian's point of view, it is "too soon."
It does not quite complete the "set".
"The final book, which happens to be the first one, still has to be done, and will cover 1900 to 1919.
"I'm always on the lookout for original photographs. They still crop up."
He says he is stunned by the amount of photographs he has accumulated since he began researching the history of his home town as a teenager in the mid-1960s.
"I never thought I would get as many photos as I have."
During his work he has helped countless people wishing to know more about specific aspects of the area's past for their own interest, as well as discovering more about the lives of their ancestors.
"History doesn't just happen. History is all about people. People make history."
The book is being launched at the 10th anniversary Wellington Midsummer Fair on June 10, at Wellington History Group's stall which is in the churchyard of Wellington Parish Church.
