Main Bathroom

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 24mm · f/8.0 · 15s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The main amenities block at Wangi Power Station. Rows of sinks, stalls, and tiled walls, once part of the daily routine for the plant's workforce. At peak operation in 1964, approximately 400 workers were employed at the station on the western shore of Lake Macquarie.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

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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: Main Bathroom
Series: Wangi Power Station
Catalogue: WPS-033
Process: Giclée
Captured: 27 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 15s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 24 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Wangi Wangi, 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

Wangi Wangi, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The main bathroom at Wangi Power Station is a tiled room with a long basin trough running along one wall, a row of cubicles along the opposite wall, and a urinal stand at the far end. The tile pattern is mid-century institutional: pale green to waist height, white above, set in a regular grid with a feature row at the changeover. The fittings are heavy chrome on porcelain, with separate hot and cold taps at each basin position. The cubicle doors are timber, painted to match the upper tile colour. Fluorescent overhead lighting has failed completely; the only light in the photograph comes through a single high window along the back wall.

The amenities at Wangi Power Station were sized for a workforce that peaked at approximately 400 employees in the operating year 1964. The main bathroom served the working levels of the plant, with separate facilities for the administration block and the workshops. The fittings were specified for heavy industrial use and have lasted, mostly intact, since the plant opened in 1958. After A Station retired on 7 March 1985 and B Station closed on 31 October 1986, the amenities went out of regular service. The chrome on the fittings has dulled. The tiles are mostly in place.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

White ceramic tiles line the walls from floor to ceiling. A row of heavy porcelain basins runs along the right side, their exposed S-bend plumbing still bolted in place. A tiled partition divides the centre of the room, shower fittings mounted on both faces. The floor is small-format pavers, caked in grit and fine debris. Louvre windows hang open at broken angles, letting flat grey light fall across the wet surfaces. The air in here would smell of damp concrete and old calcium.

Brett Patman

The series

Wangi Power Station

51 photographs

About a thousand men built Wangi Power Station, on the western shore of Lake Macquarie. They were Hunter Valley locals and post-war Italian migrants, many living in a tent city on the lakeshore through the build. By 1957 they'd put up the main building, 228 metres long and eleven storeys high in triple-brick over a riveted steel frame, with three 76-metre concrete chimneys behind it.

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.