BOS Vessel at BlueScope Port Kembla, pure oxygen is blasted into the molten iron to remove impurities to convert the iron.

01 BlueScope Port KemblaPort Kembla2016 - 2019

ISO 1000.6sf/8.034mm

Series · 12 prints

BlueScope Port Kembla

Photographed 2016 - 2019
Frames 12
Camera NIKON D7000 · NIKON Z 7
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Active steelworks
Opened 1928
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

The BlueScope Port Kembla steelworks is the largest crude-steel production plant in Australia and the largest single industrial operation in the Illawarra. The site began in 1928 as Australian Iron & Steel, taking over Charles Hoskins's iron operation from Lithgow. First steel was made in 1931. BHP merged with AIS in 1935 and the works ran as BHP Steel until 2002, when BlueScope was demerged from BHP. The No.6 Blast Furnace was decommissioned in 2011 when BlueScope withdrew from the export market and stood dormant for over a decade before reline work was approved in 2021 at an estimated $1.15 billion. The No.5 Blast Furnace is approaching end of life. The Lost Collective photographs document the dormant sections of the works during the period after the 2011 shutdown.

03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed and numbered, printed from the original RAW file. Open editions in the two smallest sizes; limited editions of 100, 50 and 25 in the three larger, never reissued once they sell through.

BOS Vessel at BlueScope Port Kembla, pure oxygen is blasted into the molten iron to remove impurities to convert the iron.
BOS Vessel
BOS Scrap Loading at BlueScope Port Kembla, in the middle of the frame is an enormous skip loaded with 50 tonnes of steel.
BOS Scrap Loading
Pot at BlueScope Port Kembla, a massive industrial pot stands amidst the BlueScope Port Kembla steelworks.
Pot
Tipping Slag at BlueScope Port Kembla, the BOS Vessel tipping the slag after tapping the steel.
Tipping Slag
Two torpedo-shaped slag pots sit on the concrete floor of the basic oxygen steelmaking furnace bay at Port Kembla Steelworks, one pulled aside for ground-level repair work.
BOS Building Facing West
Charge Crane Hook at BlueScope Port Kembla, this photo doesn't really do justice but the hook block was about as big as me.
Charge Crane Hook
Slab Caster Plant at BlueScope Port Kembla, facing East down the slab caster plant.
Slab Caster Plant
BOS Charging at BlueScope Port Kembla, the molten iron being tipped into the BOS after the scrap steel.
BOS Charging
A basic oxygen steelmaking vessel tilts toward its tapping hole, the rounded mouth radiating a deep orange glow across the darkened mill floor at BlueScope Port Kembla. Heat shimmer rises from the vessel's lip.
Steel Tapping
BOS Building Facing East at BlueScope Port Kembla, shot from the western end of the BOS building.
BOS Building Facing East
Slab Cutting at BlueScope Port Kembla, the cutting process of slab casting.
Slab Cutting
Dark sky above the steelworks complex at BlueScope Port Kembla. Towers and structural forms rising against the night. Steam venting from multiple points across the facility.
Port Kembla At Night
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.

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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