Main Conveyor at Hornsby Quarry, one of the main conveyors of the processing plant.

01 Hornsby QuarryHornsby2015

ISO 10010sf/8.024mm

Series · 13 prints

Hornsby Quarry

Photographed 2015
Frames 13
Camera NIKON D7000
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Hornsby Park under staged development; bulk earthworks completed February 2025
Closed 2002
Specs Up to 120 m deep at southern face · Quarry void ~300 m square · Jurassic diatreme cross-section
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Hornsby Quarry was a bluestone quarry in Old Man's Valley, Hornsby, that ran under private operators from the early 1900s until 2002. Decommissioned in 2003, it was acquired by Hornsby Shire Council later that year for $26 million following a determination by the NSW Land and Environment Court. What the quarrying exposed is geologically extraordinary: more than 100 metres of cross-section through a Jurassic diatreme volcanic neck, a world-class array of volcanic features described in 2022 as a geoheritage treasure. The Higgins family cemetery, with burials between 1875 and 1925, sits within the site and is separately heritage-listed. Rehabilitation works were approved on 4 November 2020 and the site is being transformed into Hornsby Park, with the quarry void retained as a geological feature.

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.

Main Conveyor at Hornsby Quarry, one of the main conveyors of the processing plant.
Main Conveyor
Control Desk at Hornsby Quarry, the main control panel within the processing plant.
Control Desk
A diagonal conveyor runs above a concrete floor, with rust-streaked metal beams and pipe runs converging over it at Hornsby Quarry.
Conveyor Eight
Ground Level at Hornsby Quarry, stairs down to the ground level of the processing plant.
Ground Level
Diamond-patterned mesh screens a doorway opening in a stripped interior at the Hornsby Quarry processing plant.
Level Two
Graffiti-tagged concrete pillars and inclined conveyor frames rise through multiple levels of grated metal platforms inside the processing infrastructure at Hornsby Quarry.
Screening Conveyor
Checkerplate stairs descend through the processing infrastructure at Hornsby Quarry, a diagonal shadow falling across the upper landing.
Stairs Down
Quarry Void at Hornsby Quarry, the void from where the material was removed and sent to the processing plant via a series.
Quarry Void
A concrete-floored basement interior at Hornsby Quarry. Dry straw and debris have collected across the floor and landings.
Basement
Control Room Entrance at Hornsby Quarry, a small platform before the entrance to the control room of the plant.
Control Room Entrance
Perforated metal grating covers the floor of a screening chamber deep inside the processing plant at Hornsby Quarry, where crushed dolerite was once sorted by size before leaving the site.
Screening
An air compressor against a rough stone cutting at Hornsby Quarry. Pipes cross broken gravel ground. A rusted ladder is fixed to the rock face above, climbing toward the ridge. Graffiti covers part of the casing.
Air Compressor
A bright green sapling pushes up beside a rust-stained metal pole, rooted in dark soil between a weathered timber plank and patches of new grass at Hornsby Quarry.
Walkway
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

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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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