Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.
Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.

Ammeter Wall

Provenance

Camera
NIKON D810
Lens
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings
14mm · f/9.0 · 0.8s · ISO 100
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Rows of ammeters and protection relays line the wall, glass-covered gauges intact. Each monitored the flow of electricity through the station's plant. White Bay supplied Sydney's tram and suburban rail network from 1917 until the final shutdown on Christmas Day 1983.

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.
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In situ

Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.Ammeter Wall at White Bay Power Station, rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow.
01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title
Ammeter Wall
Series
White Bay Power Station
Catalogue
WBP-093
Process
Giclée
Captured
27 May 2016
Camera
NIKON D810
Lens
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture
f/9.0
Shutter
0.8s s
ISO
100
Focal length
14 mm
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size
290 × 200 mm
Location
Rozelle, 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

Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

An ammeter wall at White Bay Power Station carries a full panel of current-measuring instruments, mounted floor-to-eye-level across one of the switchboard sections. The wall is a flat steel cabinet faced with the matte-finished switchboard standard of the plant, with the meters set into the panel at regular grid positions. Brass nameplates above each meter identify the circuit. The dials are GE or similar manufacturer's standard pattern, with the needles at their last operating positions. The lettering on the nameplates has worn at the most-read positions but is still legible. The lighting above the wall is fluorescent overhead.

White Bay's switchboards covered every electrical circuit in the plant: generators, busbars, transformers, outgoing feeders, station supply. The ammeter wall in this photograph monitored a specific section of that distribution, with the meters reading the current in each circuit continuously through every operating shift. The plant ran for 66 years from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983. After closure the meters were de-energised but left mounted on the panels. The switchboard cabinets have stayed in place since.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Rows of glass-cased ammeters and relay instruments line both walls of a narrow corridor deep inside White Bay Power Station. Dozens of dials sit behind curved glass covers, their needles still. The left bank curves slightly outward under the weight of the metres. On the right, pale blue switchgear panels are labelled "Main Bus." Water stains bleed through the ceiling. A single window at the far end lets in weak light. The concrete floor is bare and scuffed.

Brett Patman

White Bay Power Station

The series

White Bay Power Station

2015–2018 · 124 photographs

Bricklayers laid 3.7 million bricks at White Bay across three and a quarter years of Phase 1 construction, on Wanngal Country at the western edge of Rozelle. The New South Wales Government Railways ran the build through its own Construction Department. By 3 July 1913, boilers and alternators were running before the buildings that housed them were complete.

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 WHITE BAY POWER STATION

123 other prints in this series

All prints
Control Room at White Bay Power Station, a curved control console wraps across the room in a wide arc.
Control Room $100.00
Turbine Hall at White Bay Power Station, reinforced concrete walls rise three storeys on each side, their surfaces stained.
Turbine Hall $100.00
Glass Curtain at White Bay Power Station, a towering mosaic of glass and steel, where light filters through dust-streaked.
Glass Curtain $100.00
Turbine and Condenser at White Bay Power Station, a steam turbine and its condenser sit on the operating floor of White Bay.
Turbine and Condenser $100.00
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

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