Unknown photographer, Construction of the domed reading room, 1909, gelatin silver photograph, State Library of Victoria.

This photograph is part of a sequence that forms an extraordinary record of the construction of the domed reading room, revealing its structural characteristics and something of the building practices at the time. We follow the work from the excavations for the footings and scaffolding to the first gallery level, built in brick. As bricklayers bend to their task, a fellow worker swings past, clinging on to a piece of masonry being lifted by a crane. No safety gear in sight.