Item AC-47 - Unloading an oil drilling rig at Amazon

From 1905 until the early-1950s, numerous departments and agencies of the Government of Saskatchewan were producing various types of photography, including still photography, filmstrips and motion pictures, for educational and/or publicity purposes. In 1954, the Photographic Services Branch was established to centralize the photographic activities of all departments and agencies. The Branch was organized under the Department of Travel and Information (1957 to 1960) and the Department of Industry and Information (1960-1964).

Between ca. 1957 and 1964, functions of the Branch included still photography, documentary motion picture production (including filmstrips for the Department of Education's school broadcasts), laboratory services and maintaining a library of its images and motion pictures. The Branch was comprised of a still photographic unit, a motion picture department and a graphic art department. Each section had a director who reported directly to the Department's Deputy Minister.

The Photographic Services Branch was dissolved in October, 1964 as a result of recommendations made in the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Government Administration (the Johnson Commission) relating to government operations. Photographic and art services were downsized and transferred to the Queen's Printer, while audio-visual services were transferred to Executive Council. Responsibility for photographic services was also decentralized to other government departments. Between 1964 and 1967, no central still photography unit existed, resulting in a gap in the Government of Saskatchewan's photographic record as photographs were taken by commercial photographers or government departments but the negatives were not acquired by the Queen's Printer.