By Jessica Micallef
Here’s your chance to step back in time to see Romsey and Lancefield in an older era.
The Macedon Ranges Photographic Society Now and Then Photography exhibition features photos of the two townships from historical and contemporary visual perspectives.
Society president Deborah Mullins said the group applied for a grant through the Romsey and Lancefield Bendigo Banks to get an exhibition up and running.
“We were lucky enough to be granted some money,” she said.
“Our aim was to have a project that would involve the public with a little bit of getting to know the community and get a bit of an understanding of the history of the two townships and what we’ve done is gather a series of images.”
Historical images were sourced by the Romsey and Lancefield districts historical societies. Camera club members from MRPS then snapped their own photos of the same landmark or area.
“There’s about 45 [photographs] in total that show some of the changes over time,” Ms Mullins said.
“We photographed all of those [old] images, and then our camera club members photographed what they were like today.”
Ms Mullins said the photos highlighted how some historic buildings changed over the years.
“The Shamrock Hotel in Lancefield, it looks the same today as it looked back then, but it’s now private homes,” she said.
“The varied key buildings in Romsey have structurally not changed a lot but … the old photographs have people in horse and cart and it shows we’ve come a long way in a relatively short period of time.
“We’re talking about the 1850s at the earliest, they [photographs] aren’t ancient, but they do highlight what life might have been like.”
The exhibition is on until April 22, at 20a High Street Lancefield and 105 Main Street Romsey.
