Blower

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 50mm · f/9.0 · 8 sec · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Circular and heavily corroded, a motorised blower unit sits against a brick wall at Bradmill, Yarraville, its central grate open to the room. Red fabric debris lies scattered across the floor between rusted support beams, and a black plastic bag hangs from overhead wiring to the right. The machine was probably used to feed air to the boilers.

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 5 to 10 business days (unframed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

Blower at Bradmill Denim, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Blower at Bradmill Denim, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Blower at Bradmill Denim, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Blower
Series: Bradmill Denim
Catalogue: BDE-008
Process: Giclée
Captured: 18 March 2012
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/9.0
Shutter: 8 sec s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 50 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 297 × 210 mm
Location: Yarraville, Victoria, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Yarraville, Victoria, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The motorised blower provided forced combustion air to the boilers in the plant room, its ductwork running through the boiler house structure to the firebox inlets. In a coal-fired boiler plant running at the scale of Bradmill's operation, combustion air management was a continuous mechanical function. By March 2012 the blower sat silent in its position, the heavy metal casing intact, the ducting still attached. Brett photographed it in that session with an eight-second exposure, the available light from the boiler house windows holding the detail of the machine against the surrounding darkness.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Motorised blower probably for feeding air to the boilers

Brett Patman

The series

Bradmill Denim

52 photographs

The former Davies Coop / Bradmill factory, Yarraville, was a textile works on Francis Street in Melbourne's western suburbs, built as the dyeing and finishing plant of the cotton spinner Davies Coop & Co. Ltd. It followed a 1952 agreement with the Bradford Dyers' Association of England and was in production by the middle of 1955. Bradmill Industries bid for Davies Coop in 1969 and owned it outright by 1973. The steel-framed, red brick boiler house is the building the heritage listing names as a large and dominant local landmark.

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.