Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.
Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.

Pump

Provenance

Camera
NIKON D810
Lens
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings
14mm · f/9.0 · 1/160 · ISO 100
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A corroded pump in the pump house, cast-iron casing thick with rust, fractured window panes above. This machinery was part of the circulating water system that drew harbour water through the condensers. The site was chosen in 1910 partly for its access to unlimited harbour water.

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

Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.Pump at White Bay Power Station, a heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion.
01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title
Pump
Series
White Bay Power Station
Catalogue
WBP-108
Process
Giclée
Captured
27 May 2016
Camera
NIKON D810
Lens
14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture
f/9.0
Shutter
1/160 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

A pump at White Bay Power Station sits in one of the service bays of the plant, the cast-iron volute housing bolted to a concrete pad with the drive motor stacked on top and the suction and discharge piping running off either side. The pump is a centrifugal unit of the standard mid-twentieth-century industrial pattern, painted in the pale industrial green of the broader plant. Nameplate brass on the motor casing carries the manufacturer specifications. Cabling runs from the motor terminal box up to the cable tray above. The pump is supported by structural steel below the concrete pad; the pipework around it is supported by separate hangers from the ceiling.

White Bay had pumps of all sizes across the plant, serving every fluid circuit in the building: feedwater, condensate, cooling water, fire main, drain, lubricating oil, sealing water. The pump in this photograph was one of dozens in the same service-bay role. The plant ran continuously across the working life of the station from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983. After closure the pump was shut down. Most of the larger pumps came out during the 1990s decontamination program; smaller units like this one often remained in place because they were not worth the cost of extraction.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A heavy cast-iron pump sits on a concrete plinth, its flanged casing thick with corrosion. Bolts the size of fists hold the assembly together. Behind it, electrical switchgear and severed cabling lean against the brick wall. Pale light enters through a grid of steel-framed windows, most panes cracked or missing. Grit and broken glass cover the floor. A rag lies crumpled at the base of the machinery. The air looks dense with dust.

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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