Retort Building Level One at Bathurst Gasworks, there is a walkway that surrounds the retort structure of Bathurst Gasworks.

01 Bathurst GasworksBathurst2016

ISO 1001.3sf/8.024mm

Series · 22 prints

Bathurst Gasworks

Photographed 2016
Frames 22
Camera NIKON D7000
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Disused; under contamination and structural assessment
Years 1888 to 1987
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Bathurst Gasworks ran on Russell Street from 1888 to 1987, producing town gas for Bathurst, Orange, and Lithgow under a three-council partnership for 91 years before being leased to AGL in 1979. Town gas production ceased in 1987, when Bathurst was switched onto the state natural gas grid. The site shows the standard pattern of a 19th-century country gasworks: a coal-fired retort house, byproduct storage, and a service yard. Coal tar from the gas-making process produced significant ground contamination, and the site has been partly remediated by Bathurst Regional Council with funding from the NSW Environmental Trust in 2008 and 2009. The retort building is the most prominent surviving structure and is documented in the Bathurst Regional Council heritage layer.

03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed limited editions, printed from the original RAW file. Editions run from 100 down to 25 and are not reissued once they sell through.

Retort Building Level One at Bathurst Gasworks, there is a walkway that surrounds the retort structure of Bathurst Gasworks.
Retort Building Level One
Bucket Conveyor at Bathurst Gasworks, the plant ran on coal carbonisation from 1888 until AGL switched to LPG reforming.
Bucket Conveyor
Looking Down Retort Building at Bathurst Gasworks, it was a pretty long way down from here.
Looking Down Retort Building
Pulveriser at Bathurst Gasworks, a steel pulverising unit stands centre frame, its heavy casing blackened with soot.
Pulveriser
Valves at Bathurst Gasworks, a row of valves on the top of the retort.
Valves
Side Of Retort at Bathurst Gasworks, heavy cast-iron pipework stands bolted to a steel base plate at the side of a retort.
Side Of Retort
Level Two at Bathurst Gasworks, the second level of the retort building facing North East.
Level Two
Control Room at Bathurst Gasworks, a steel control panel stands in a dim room, its surface grey with grime.
Control Room
Grader at Bathurst Gasworks, coal grading machine used for separating various sizes of coal by vibrating through screens.
Grader
Wests Gas Improvement Co at Bathurst Gasworks, this is a closeup of the bottom of the retort from where the coke was removed.
Wests Gas Improvement Co
Top of Retort Building at Bathurst Gasworks, the very top level of the entire retort building viewing East.
Top of Retort Building
Purifier Shed Roof at Bathurst Gasworks, a large cylindrical vessel fills the frame, its steel skin streaked with grime.
Purifier Shed Roof
Retort Basement at Bathurst Gasworks, this looks like where the coke, a byproduct of the gas production process was.
Retort Basement
Spare Parts Storage at Bathurst Gasworks, the old store area.
Spare Parts Storage
Admin at Bathurst Gasworks, a single-storey rendered building sits behind a stripped forecourt.
Admin
Top Of Retort at Bathurst Gasworks, a cylindrical retort vessel dominates the left of frame, its riveted steel face scaled.
Top Of Retort
Stairs To Level Two at Bathurst Gasworks, a steel staircase climbs between brick walls, bolted to a narrow column.
Stairs To Level Two
Retort Base at Bathurst Gasworks, light falls through a single doorway at the base of the retort house, catching the brick.
Retort Base
Tar Holding Structure at Bathurst Gasworks, a brick-clad boiler structure sits at the centre of the frame, its arched.
Tar Holding Structure
Stairs Down at Bathurst Gasworks, they look as good as they ever will.
Stairs Down
Scrubbers at Bathurst Gasworks, steel vessels and heavy flanged pipework crowd the interior of the gasworks scrubber house.
Scrubbers
Purifier Shed at Bathurst Gasworks, broken steel and shattered brick cover the floor of the purifier shed.
Purifier Shed
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

06 PRESS

In the press

I'm often contacted by people who used to frequent the places I photographed. They share stories that enter the collections as additions or corrections. Sometimes they send their own photos from the same viewpoints, taken decades earlier.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

One day I stopped at a vast abandoned factory I passed on my way home from work. There was a long section of fence missing. I wandered in, camera in hand, and that moment was the unofficial beginning of Lost Collective.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

Leaving a secure job to work as an artist, trying to manage inconsistent income and tempering the self-doubt and self-criticism that came with it has been one of the most difficult things I've done.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

See press coverage →
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

Read the full story

Articles when they're published. The history behind a place. The day of a shoot. The work between prints. No marketing, no schedule.

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