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SSO Media - Sydney Star Observer

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Items in this series (2,455)

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Boxes in this Series (33)

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Sydney Star Observer stock photograph library

Description

Unique IDAS-1153Start dateBetween 6th July 1979 and 31st December 2011Start date qualifiercircaFormatPhotograph - PrintShort descriptionThis series consists primarily of stock photographs from the Sydney Star Observer, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender magazine. The photographs were donated to the City in 2011 by the former SSO Media.DescriptionThis series consists primarily of stock photographs collected for use in the Sydney Star Observer (SSO) and its predecessor The Star and The Sydney Star. The collection was donated to the City in December 2011 by SSO Media on sale of the magasine.

The Sydney Star Observer was a free newspaper for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Sydney. The publication, now called The Star Observer is still operating (now online) under new ownership.

Michael Glynn published a A5 sized bar guide from 6 July 1979 under the name of The Sydney Star. It became a tabloid newspaper and in 1982 the paper changed its name to The Star. The Star was produced fortnightly from an office at 8/43 Phillip Street in the city, near the Wentworth Hotel, and then at a rented terrace house at 93 Crown Street, Darlinghurst.

In 1984, Glynn sold the paper to a consortium of friends and co-workers who set up a company called Seruse Pty Ltd. (83) Seruse itself struggled to make the publication viable.

An agreement was reached with the Melbourne-based Gay Publications Cooperative to form an alliance that would Gay Community News a Sydney base and inject resources into The Star. Seruse ceased publishing on 25 April 1985 and a week later the publication was re-launched as Sydney's Star Observer and then the Sydney Star Observer.

The early photographs held by the City Archives (circa 1979-1984) are known as the 'Michael Glynn Collection' and consist mainly of processed film photographs. These came to the City with very little to no descriptive information and had no identifiable arrangement, apart from some photographs of the same timeframe that were still in their original processing envelopes. Where photographs were contained in folders, any descriptive information on the folders, has been added to the photographs within it. It is not guaranteed that all contents relate to the folder name of material in the folder. Some of the boxes marked as 'Michael Glynn collection' were mixed up with later Sydney Star Observer content and with a few personal photographs.

The remainder of the donation is from the stock photograph library. It consists of images used in the newspaper, or proposed or submitted for publication. It is arranged by folders, with loose prints in each folder. Organisation is by a broad alphabetical subject classification. The images are almost all prints, both colour and black & white.

Little contextual information was provided about individual images, in most cases the folder title was all the information recorded. Sometimes names and places were recorded on the back of the photographs. It is unclear which photographs were published in the magazine, although some have percentage signs (%) - indicating the percentage of the photograph planned for publication - or issue numbers recorded.

Copyright arrangements are under consultation with photographers. Copyright usually rests with the individual photographers. In some cases photographers are not identified.

The folder level inventory is available in the Archives & History Resources catalogue. The items are in the process of being listed at photograph level and any descriptions on the back of the photographs will be captured. Selective digitisation is being considered.

The subject content ranges from Mardi Gras parades and Fair Days, DIVA awards, fundraising events, protests, media campaigns, book launches, promotional images for films and theatre productions, celebrations, parties, pub and nightclub culture.

A few boxes contain envelopes of prints (sometimes labelled), loose prints, CDs and negatives.

References
Information about the evolution of the SSO has been drawn from "Preaching to the Perverted: The life and times of Michael Glynn" by Dominic O'Grady.

Relationship summaryCREATED BY: SSO Media - Sydney Star Observer AG-0247 (31/12/1979) LanguageEnglish (eng)

Access

Public access statusClosed to public accessPublic access noteReboxed and listed photographs may be viewed in the reading room. However, unprocessed material is not yet available.
The photographer retains copyright in most cases. Contact the City Archives to arrange permission for publishing or commercial use. Please acknowledge the photographer and that the image is supplied courtesy City of Sydney Archives.

Identification and Arrangement

Source system ID1153System of arrangementAlphabetical

Digitisation

Digitisation statusPartially digitised

Data Quality

Authenticity & integrityThis series was acquired from SSO Media. Information was recorded on the back of the photograph and the folder the photograph was in. It has formed the basis of the descriptive information added by volunteers and City of Sydney staff.

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Creating agenciesSSO Media - Sydney Star Observer

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Sydney Star Observer stock photograph library