Transformer Alley

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/9.0 · 1/6 · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A narrow corridor runs between the Turbine Hall and the Switch House at White Bay Power Station, enclosed by towering brick and concrete. Rusted metal plates lean against the right wall and rails are embedded the length of the passage. A single concrete plinth marks where a transformer once stood.

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

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

Transformer Alley at White Bay Power Station, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Transformer Alley at White Bay Power Station, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Transformer Alley at White Bay Power Station, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Transformer Alley
Series: White Bay Power Station
Catalogue: WBP-124
Process: Giclée
Captured: 24 February 2017
Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/9.0
Shutter: 1/6 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

Transformer alley at White Bay Power Station is the narrow corridor between the Turbine Hall and the Switch House, enclosed by towering brick and concrete. Rusted metal plates lean against the right wall and rails are embedded the length of the passage. A single concrete plinth remains in the foreground, likely a foundation for a long-removed transformer.

Power transformers at White Bay handled the step-up from generator voltage to the 33 kV transmission level that fed Sydney's tram and rail traction sub-stations. Each unit was an oil-cooled core, mounted in an outdoor enclosure with bus-bar connections from the switch house and outgoing feeders to the network. The transformers were among the highest-value items at the plant and were removed in the 1990s as part of the decontamination and stripping program. The alley in this photograph is what is left: a plinth, embedded rails, and the empty space where the machines once sat.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The narrow corridor between the Turbine Hall and Switch House at White Bay Power Station is enclosed by towering brick and concrete, its walls lined with the scars of decades past. Overhead, rusted pipes and skeletal walkways stretch between the buildings, remnants of an infrastructure left to decay. The air is thick with dampness, the stillness punctuated by the occasional drip of water or the faint creak of shifting metal.

Brett Patman

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.