Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.
Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.

Boiler Front Panel

Provenance

Camera
NIKON D7000
Lens
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
Settings
36mm · f/2.8 · 1/40 · ISO 100
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Rust blooms across the boiler's front panel within the abandoned Bradmill Denim factory. Dials and gauges, once vital, now sit silent. This textile plant in Melbourne ceased operations, its industrial heart fading.

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
Size
Type
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.
See certificate sample →

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In situ

Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.Boiler Front Panel at Bradmill Denim, heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall.
01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title
Boiler Front Panel
Series
Bradmill Denim
Catalogue
BDE-009
Process
Giclée
Captured
18 March 2012
Camera
NIKON D7000
Lens
AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
Aperture
f/2.8
Shutter
1/40 s
ISO
100
Focal length
36 mm
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size
290 × 200 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 front panel of one of the boilers at Bradmill, Yarraville. Rust has bloomed across the panel surface in patches, the original paint dark beneath. Dials and gauges sit set into the panel face, the dial markings still legible, the needles in their last operational positions. The panel is fitted to the boiler body behind through a flanged frame, the bolts visible at regular intervals.

The boiler house was the central plant for steam supply across the Bradmill Yarraville site, driving the spinning mill, weaving sheds, and dye house through the working life of the factory. Bradmill Industries Ltd ran fifteen manufacturing sites across NSW, Victoria and Queensland at its 1970s peak. The Yarraville plant was pushed into receivership in the early 2000s under pressure from cheap textile imports and shuttered around 2002.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Heavy cast-iron boiler fronts sit in a row along a red brick wall. Rust covers every surface. Gate valves and handwheels hold their last positions. Blue-painted steam pipes rise vertically into the darkness above. Firebox doors hang open or sit slightly ajar. The floor is thick with debris, flaked paint, and decades of settled grit.

Brett Patman

Bradmill Denim

The series

Bradmill Denim

2011 · 27 photographs

The Bradford family founded Bradford Cotton Mills in Sydney in 1927. The company expanded into Victoria in 1940, began producing denim in 1945, and grew into Bradmill Industries Ltd. The Yarraville factory on Francis Street was the country's only indigo denim mill.

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.

Anatomy · true ratio
07 MORE FROM BRADMILL DENIM

26 other prints in this series

All prints
Conveyor at Bradmill Denim, an old coal conveyor used to feed to the boiler furnace.
Conveyor $100.00
Roto Feeder at Bradmill Denim, a Babcock Detroit Roto-Feeder sits square in the frame, its cast iron face blackened.
Roto Feeder $100.00
Tank at Bradmill Denim, lagged hot water tank from the top of the boiler house.
Tank $100.00
Doorway at Bradmill Denim, a heavy steel fire door marked "2" fills the end of a narrow brick corridor.
Doorway $100.00
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

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