3 Explorers Motel

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 24mm · f/8.0 · 30s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The empty pool at the 3 Explorers Motel reflects a grey sky. Weeds grow through cracked concrete, marking the end of its travellers' welcome. Rust stains the diving board, a relic of forgotten summers.

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: 3 Explorers Motel
Series: Hotel Motel 101
Catalogue: HMO-021
Process: Giclée
Captured: 4 April 2018
Camera: NIKON D850
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 30s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 24 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: 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

New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The 3 Explorers Motel sits on the Great Western Highway in the Blue Mountains, the property named for the three colonial-era explorers (Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth) who in 1813 made the first European crossing of the range. The pole sign at the kerb carries the name in cursive white lettering above a depiction of three silhouetted figures in colonial-era dress. The building behind the sign is single-storey, brick, with the room doors facing the front carpark under a continuous awning. The carpark is empty at this hour. A row of small mountain-bush plantings between the carpark and the road softens the property's edge against the highway.

The 3 Explorers Motel was photographed at 00:52 on 4 April 2018, on the western run of Hotel Motel 101. The project covered 101 traditional Australian motor inns across three sweeps out of Sydney in late March and early April 2018: south on the Hume Highway, north on the Pacific, west on the Great Western. Drive-thru reception, parking in front of the rooms, low rise. The colonial-explorers naming sits within the broader Australian motel habit of reaching for settler mythology to give the property a connection to the highway corridor it served.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Set in a town in the Blue Mountains, this simple motel is a 6-minute walk from the Three Sisters rock formation and 1.3 km from Katoomba Scenic World, featuring nature tours and the Katoomba Scenic Railway. Accessed through exterior corridors, the bright rooms with simple furnishings offer free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs, plus minifridges, microwaves, and tea and coffeemaking facilities. Family rooms have bunk beds. Upgraded rooms and 2-bedrooms suites add whirlpool baths. In-room breakfast is available for a fee. $140 per night.

Brett Patman

The series

Hotel Motel 101

2015–2020 · 103 photographs

Hotel Motel 101 is a series of one hundred and one motels photographed in 2018 across three runs out of Sydney. North to the Central Coast, west through the Blue Mountains to the central western tablelands, south down the NSW South Coast. The count crept up from a planned seventy toward the round number, plus one for safety.

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.