Squash Court

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/5.6 · 2.5s · ISO 500
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The timber floor of the squash court has buckled and separated, boards lifting from the subfloor. Red boundary lines remain on the white plaster walls. Mould creeps up from the skirting on all sides.

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.

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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: Squash Court
Series: Bankstown RSL
Catalogue: BRS-030
Process: Giclée
Captured: 13 February 2019
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 2.5s s
ISO: 500
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 squash court at the Bankstown RSL is a small underground room with a sprung timber floor, four walls painted in the white-on-pale-blue pattern of the post-war squash standard, and a low ceiling above. The floor has bowed and lifted along its joins where moisture has worked into the timber from below. Patches of the surface have peeled away to expose the underlay. The walls carry the marks of years of play: ball scuffs at hitting height, scratches near the corners. A small viewing gallery sits at the back, separated from the court by a Perspex panel. The lighting is fluorescent tubes set into the ceiling; most of them are out. The court is the size of one rally and is empty.

The squash court was part of the Bankstown RSL's underground recreation wing, alongside the swimming pool, the gym, and the sauna. The wing was built into the basement of the 1955 clubhouse and ran continuously through the club's working life as one of the few suburban Sydney squash venues with full-day member access. Through the 2000s the club's membership declined and the recreation wing wound down; the squash court was closed off some years before final demolition. The Bankstown RSL was demolished in March 2019, and the photographs are the last record of the underground rooms. The court is gone now, sprung floor and all.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A squash court stripped back to its bones. The hardwood floor has buckled and warped, planks lifting away from the subfloor in long dark strips. A stained ceiling tile sits discarded near the front wall. Red service lines still mark the walls with precision, but below them, grey-green mould climbs from the skirting. The plaster is damp and discoloured. Overhead, exposed concrete beams and fluorescent fittings hang in a low coffered ceiling. The air in here would be thick and wet.

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.