Yoghurt Culture Vats at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a high-ceilinged industrial hall opens at ground level, its pitched steel roof beams crossing overhead in near-darkness.

01 Peters Ice Cream FactoryTaree2016

ISO 1001/6f/8.014mm

Series · 31 prints

Peters Ice Cream Factory

Photographed 2016
Frames 31
Camera NIKON D7000
Location New South Wales, Australia
Status Abandoned; vandalised and largely empty
Opened 1939
Specs Steam-driven dairy plant · 1,000 gallons of milk per hour · Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Peters Ice Cream Factory opened on 4 November 1939 on the bank of the Manning River at Chatham, a suburb of Taree. The opening drew approximately 5,000 people. Peters Creameries built the plant for around £60,000, with a steam-driven capacity of 1,000 gallons of milk per hour and a boiler house running four Babcock and Wilcox boilers. Cream was delivered by boat from farms along the Manning River for four decades, a trade that ran until around the 1970s. The factory made ice cream, butter, milk powder, oil, and yoghurt, and was the main employer in the Manning Valley until it closed in the late 1990s. The building still stands at Chatham, deteriorating. Listed in 1990 on the local heritage register (Greater Taree, now MidCoast Council).

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.

Milk Powder Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, commissioned in 1953, the NIRO produced 1 tonne of milk powder per hour.
Milk Powder Room
Yoghurt Culture Vats at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a high-ceilinged industrial hall opens at ground level, its pitched steel roof beams crossing overhead in near-darkness.
Yoghurt Culture Vats
Water Vessel at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a narrow passage squeezes between a brick column and a curved concrete vessel stained deep ochre with rust.
Water Vessel
Southeastern Corner at Peters Ice Cream Factory, two storeys of brown brick rise against a flat blue sky.
Southeastern Corner
South East Corner Concentrate Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, the south-east corner of the Peters factory, where the concentrate room backed onto the drainage channel running the length of the building.
South East Corner Concentrate Room
Sample Cool Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, paint peels from the walls in large, damp sheets.
Sample Cool Room
Raw Milk Silos at Peters Ice Cream Factory, stainless steel silos sit in bays divided by concrete columns, their circular hatches dark and open.
Raw Milk Silos
Raw Material Procesing at Peters Ice Cream Factory, concrete columns hold a low ceiling over a broad processing floor.
Raw Material Procesing
Production Packaging Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a wide commercial floor stretches out under a low corrugated metal ceiling.
Production Packaging Room
Production Floor at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a wide concrete floor stretches into shadow beneath a corrugated metal ceiling.
Production Floor
Office at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a steel desk sits in the corner of a small office, its drawers pulled open and empty.
Office
North Eastern Corner at Peters Ice Cream Factory, stainless steel silos and a rusted cylindrical tank rise above the concrete yard at the north-eastern corner of the Peters Ice Cream Factory in Warwick Farm.
North Eastern Corner
Laboratory Wall at Peters Ice Cream Factory, thick paint peels from a stone-patterned wall in deep, curling sheets.
Laboratory Wall
Laboratory at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a control panel sits bolted to the right wall, its gauges and dials still intact.
Laboratory
Front Lawn at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a cylindrical steel water tank sits raised on six legs above a mowed front lawn.
Front Lawn
Engine Room Facade at Peters Ice Cream Factory, two steel smokestacks rise above the engine room block, their pale blue paint peeling away in large patches to expose dark rust beneath.
Engine Room Facade
Concentrate Vats at Peters Ice Cream Factory, two cylindrical steel vats sit raised on stubby legs above a brick floor.
Concentrate Vats
Concentrate Room Mezzanine at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a heavy motor assembly hangs from a steel I-beam, suspended above a floor thick with compacted debris and dirt.
Concentrate Room Mezzanine
Boiler House Facade at Peters Ice Cream Factory, two storeys of brown brick and concrete banding, squared off under a gabled roofline.
Boiler House Facade
Amenities Block at Peters Ice Cream Factory, a concrete staircase turns at a landing between floors.
Amenities Block
Powder Room Window at Peters Ice Cream Factory, looking at engine room wall from the powder room.
Powder Room Window
Main Factory Entry at Peters Ice Cream Factory, the main entry featured an airlock to prevent contamination.
Main Factory Entry
First Floor Laboratory at Peters Ice Cream Factory, the laboratory was where bacteria testing, standardising and compositional testing of products would be carried out.
First Floor Laboratory
First Floor at Peters Ice Cream Factory, the reception before the laboratory.
First Floor
Concentrate Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, disused machinery and intricate pipework remain, once vital to production.
Concentrate Room
Office at Peters Ice Cream Factory, another former production managers office.
Office
Engine Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, heavy industrial machinery, once powering a national brand, now sits dormant.
Engine Room
Change Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, part of the amenities block.
Change Room
Lunch Room at Peters Ice Cream Factory, upstairs level amenities block.
Lunch Room
Boiler House at Peters Ice Cream Factory, the towering boiler house interior at Peters' Ice Cream Factory reveals immense, silent machinery.
Boiler House
Back Dock at Peters Ice Cream Factory, the dry goods storage area leading to the back dock of the facility.
Back Dock
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.

05 FIELD NOTE

From the field

Read all field notes
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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