No. 1 shaft headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine in silhouette at dusk, two head sheaves in the lattice tower.
No. 1 shaft headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine in silhouette at dusk, two head sheaves in the lattice tower.

Headframe at Dusk

Provenance

Camera
Nikon F100
Film
Cinestill 800T · 35mm · ISO 800
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A steel lattice headframe in silhouette. Two head sheaves stacked one above the other inside the tower, their spokes showing. A landing platform on the near side. A corrugated shed at the foot. Bare trees and scrub around the base. A pale sky fading toward sunset.

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 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

The twin spoked winding wheels of the steel lattice headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine, silhouetted against a warm sunset sky, with dense foliage surrounding the lower framework and a corrugated metal building visible to the right.The twin spoked winding wheels of the steel lattice headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine, silhouetted against a warm sunset sky, with dense foliage surrounding the lower framework and a corrugated metal building visible to the right.The twin spoked winding wheels of the steel lattice headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine, silhouetted against a warm sunset sky, with dense foliage surrounding the lower framework and a corrugated metal building visible to the right.The twin spoked winding wheels of the steel lattice headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine, silhouetted against a warm sunset sky, with dense foliage surrounding the lower framework and a corrugated metal building visible to the right.The twin spoked winding wheels of the steel lattice headframe at Ikeshima Coal Mine, silhouetted against a warm sunset sky, with dense foliage surrounding the lower framework and a corrugated metal building visible to the right.
01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title
Headframe at Dusk
Series
Ikeshima
Catalogue
IKE-018
Process
Giclée
Captured
17 January 2026
Camera
Nikon F100
Film
Cinestill 800T
Format
35mm
Film ISO
800
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Location
Ikeshima, Nagasaki, Japan
Recognised by
Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards
02 LOCATION

Ikeshima, Nagasaki, Japan

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The headframe of the No. 1 shaft at Ikeshima Coal Mine stands in silhouette against the last light of the day, its two head sheaves mounted one above the other in the lattice tower and a landing platform jutting from its side. A corrugated shed sits at its foot, bare trees and scrub have grown up around the base, and the sky behind has faded from pale blue toward the warmth of sunset. Sunk in the 1960s and completed in 1967, this was the first of the island's two shafts, and the wheels have not turned since the last cage came up on 28 November 2001.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The headframe of the No. 1 shaft at Ikeshima Coal Mine stands in silhouette against the last light of the day, its two head sheaves mounted one above the other in the lattice tower and a landing platform jutting from its side. A corrugated shed sits at its foot, bare trees and scrub have grown up around the base, and the sky behind has faded from pale blue toward the warmth of sunset.

Brett Patman

Ikeshima

The series

Ikeshima

1959 to 2001 · 54 photographs

Ikeshima Coal Mine operated beneath the seabed off Nagasaki from 1959 until 29 November 2001, making it the last new coal mine to open in Japan and the last large-scale underground colliery to close. At its 1970 peak the island held 7,770 residents on a 0.86 km² rock in the Gotō Sea, housed in company-built concrete towers above a mine that reached 650 m below sea level.

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 IKESHIMA

53 other prints in this series

All prints
Dim office at Ikeshima Coal Mine, a white hard hat and a cup on two desks below a buckled venetian blind.
Hard Hat$100.00
View from an apartment window in Ikeshima-machi, utility pole and wires above silver grass with the Matsushima power station chimney across the sea.
Apartment Window$100.00
Window in the No. 2 Shaft office at Ikeshima Coal Mine, glass gone and a creeper hanging in over the sill above the sea.
Ocean Outlook$100.00
Pithead bath in the No. 2 Shaft office at Ikeshima Coal Mine, concrete troughs on a tiled floor with a vent fan on the far wall.
Pithead Bath$100.00
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

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