Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.
Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.

Control Room Cross View

Provenance

Camera
NIKON D7000
Lens
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings
21mm · f/8.0 · 2.5s · ISO 100
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Inside the White Bay Power Station, the control room stretches across the frame. Rusting consoles and silent dials mark the forgotten operational centre. This cross view captures the decaying heart of Sydney's former power supply.

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 →

Shipping Free shipping over $250. Ships worldwide, rates calculated at checkout.

Returns Damaged in transit? We replace it. Full policy →

Ships within 10 business days · signed & numbered

In situ

Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.Control Room Cross View at White Bay Power Station, the curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc.
01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title
Control Room Cross View
Series
White Bay Power Station
Catalogue
WBP-037
Process
Giclée
Captured
13 November 2015
Camera
NIKON D7000
Lens
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture
f/8.0
Shutter
2.5s s
ISO
100
Focal length
21 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

The curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc at White Bay Power Station. Rows of toggle switches, dials, and gauge clusters fill the pale green panels from end to end. Three timber desks sit in the centre of the floor, their varnish worn to bare wood, drawers slightly ajar. A switchboard unit rests on the middle desk. The grey tiled floor carries decades of foot traffic. Daylight from a high window throws a soft wash across the panels. The instruments are still in their last positions. Nobody has reset them. The room is otherwise quiet and empty.

White Bay's control room was the operational heart of a coal-fired plant that ran from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983, generating the traction current that powered Sydney's trams and parts of its rail network. The plant was built by the NSW Government Railways and Tramways from 1912 onwards and extended in two further phases through to 1948. At peak the station employed around 500 to 600 people working in shifts. Operators sat at this curved console managing boilers, turbines, and the switchgear that fed the city's overhead lines. The site has been state-owned since closure, mostly vacant, opened occasionally for film and arts including the 2024 Biennale of Sydney.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The curved control console wraps the room in a wide arc. Rows of toggle switches, dials, and gauge clusters fill the pale green panels from end to end. Three timber desks sit in the centre of the floor, their varnish worn to bare wood, drawers slightly ajar. A switchboard unit rests on the middle desk. Ceiling tiles sag where moisture has crept in. Grey dust coats the tile floor. Light presses through the windows on the right wall, flat and cold.

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

Read the full story

Articles when they're published. The history behind a place. The day of a shoot. The work between prints. No marketing, no schedule.

You're subscribed.