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01 BlueScope Port KemblaPort Kembla2016 - 2019
ISO 1000.6sf/8.034mm
Series · 12 prints
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.
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.
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.
Lead time
Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.
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
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
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
On the LC archive.
