Pool

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/5.0 · 2s · ISO 400
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The abandoned swimming pool at Bankstown RSL holds stagnant, murky water. Faded blue tiles and peeling paint line its decaying structure, reflecting years of disuse.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

Limited edition
A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

$100.00 AUD

Colour

Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 10 to 20 business days (framed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Pool
Series: Bankstown RSL
Catalogue: BRS-027
Process: Giclée
Captured: 13 February 2019
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/5.0
Shutter: 2s s
ISO: 400
Focal length: 14 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The Bankstown RSL pool is empty. The water has been gone for some time. The white tiles that line the floor and walls are still mostly intact, the lane markers still visible under flakes of fallen ceiling that have collected at the bottom. A handrail runs along the edge in stainless steel. The light fittings overhead are all out. The roof above the pool is panelled in fibrous plaster, and patches of it have come down in chunks. Some of the chunks rest on the lane markers, lit only by the daylight coming through a clerestory at the far wall.

The pool was part of the Bankstown RSL's recreation wing, which also held the gym, sauna, and squash courts. Members came here for a swim, a class, or a sit in the sauna after work. When the club's membership thinned through the 2000s and the recreation wing was wound back, the pool was drained and the wing was closed off from the rest of the building. The Bankstown RSL was demolished in March 2019. The pool, the lane markers, the cracked plaster, and the entire room are no longer where this photograph was made. The image is the last record of how the room looked at the end.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

An indoor swimming pool sits empty. White tiles line the floor and walls, dark lane markers still visible beneath flakes of fallen ceiling. The right wall carries a row of coloured mosaic medallions set into pale render. Blue, red, gold, purple. On the left, timber panelling and chain-link fencing border a raised spectator area. Overhead, a suspended ceiling grid holds round fluorescent fittings. The air looks still and damp.

Brett Patman

The series

Bankstown RSL

2019 · 30 photographs

On 17 September 1928, 26 returned servicemen of the 1914 to 1918 war founded the City of Bankstown RSL sub-Branch. The clubhouse at 1 Meredith Street opened in 1955, with blue walls under bright red ceilings. The underground sports complex originally held a swimming pool, a squash court, a gym, and a sauna.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.