Frank and Eunice Corley House Photos Project

Uncovering the houses of the inner southside in the 1970s.

Frank Corley was a commercial photographer who photographed almost every house in Brisbane as he drove past in his Cadillac in the early 1970’s. His wife developed the prints in a van that they had converted to a darkroom and then a team of door-to-door salespeople would sell the photos packaged in a cardboard calendar priced at 85 cents.

Before Frank passed away he bequeathed the remaining photos in the collection to the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. The library holds around 50 000 photos taken around South East Queensland that were not purchased by residents.

In 2014 ASHG began the project of identifying the photos in the collection.

The aims of the project are to:

• Engage volunteers in identifying the houses within the former Stephens Shire boundaries.
• Find and record the addresses and condition of the houses
• Study the type and degree of change that has occurred in the homes and
• streets within these suburbs
• Create conversations and share stories within neighbourhoods to
• enhance community awareness and spirit.

Annerley-Stephens History Group worked closely with the State Library of Queensland in the development of the Home – A Suburban Obsession Exhibition, which opened in December 2018 and ran until July 2019.

To search the house photos visit the Corley Explorer.