Aiwa Model TP-1001 stereo reel-to-reel four track tape recorder : D S Gibbons, Photojournalist

Accession Number REL33514
Collection type Technology
Object type Technology
Physical description Aluminium, Brass, Leatherette, Plastic, Wood
Maker Aiwa Company Ltd
Place made Japan
Date made c 1966
Conflict Vietnam, 1962-1975
Description

'Portable' reel-to-reel tape recorder in black leatherette case with protective aluminium beading, featuring carrying handle, removable lid, and a pair of integral speakers mounted on either side behind hinged panels. External power, microphone, preamp and speaker inlets are mounted to the base. The main deck sits on brushed aluminium panels, with reel-to-reel wheels, playing head, control pots for power, volume and tone, and control levers for record, pause, fast forward and rewind/stop/forward. An unused magnetic tape is mounted to one wheel and an empty plastic reel mounted to the other. The inside of the lid is fitted with a white plastic microphone mount and a pair of metal posts for winding and storing the separate power lead, with each post doubling as a mounting for a pair of spare rubber reel stops. Maker and model details feature on the playing head, handle, and a maker's plate attached to the base. The microphone and one hinge are missing.

History / Summary

Born in Sydney in 1937, Denis Gibbons had undertaken army training and work as a news photographer in Sydney before he arrived in Vietnam in January 1966. For the next five years, Gibbons recorded the tours of nine Australian infantry battalions for Fairfax press and United Press International. Australian readers could regularly view his photographic essays in People magazine. In all, he took tens of thousands of black-and-white and colour photographic that together provide a very comprehensive view of the activities undertaken by Australians during the war.
The extended period spent by Gibbons in Vietnam was highly unusual among Australian photographers. Most official photographers and other photojournalists tended to spend just a few days photographing an operation before moving on. They were also based in Saigon, a city that remained far removed from the gritty reality of the war. However, Gibbons lived at the 1st Australian Task Force base at Nui Dat and was able to spend months with a particular unit. In this way he could record all areas of the work of Australians in great detail.
Gibbons was flown out of Vietnam in November 1970, after being wounded when an Armoured Personnel Carrier he was travelling in hit an enemy mine; he was wounded six times over the course of his five years in Vietnam.

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