Turbine Hall Operator Level

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/9.0 · 1/50 · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The Parsons turbines on the operator level, exhaust ducts curving overhead, coated in rust. Parsons units entered service at White Bay from 1928, beginning with a 20 MW unit. Fifty-megawatt Parsons units followed with C Station; the last of these ran until 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

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

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Turbine Hall Operator Level
Series: White Bay Power Station
Catalogue: WBP-116
Process: Giclée
Captured: 27 May 2016
Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/9.0
Shutter: 1/50 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

The operator level of the turbine hall at White Bay Power Station runs along the side of the hall at the height of the turbine casings, a steel-grating walkway with handrails on the open side. From the walkway, the tops of the turbines are visible across the hall: the casings, the bearing covers, the valve clusters, the access plates on the upper surfaces. Pipework runs overhead along the structural framing of the building. The walkway decking is darkened from decades of foot traffic; the handrails are painted in the standard pale industrial green of the plant, worn to bare metal at the grip points. Daylight comes through high windows on both sides of the hall.

The operator level was where the turbine-hall watch ran during every operating shift. Operators walked these walkways many times per shift, reading temperature and pressure indicators on each turbine, checking for vibration or unusual sound, responding to alarms from the control room. White Bay ran continuously from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983 across three build phases (1912 to 1917, 1923 to 1928, 1945 to 1948). The walkway in this photograph carried decades of working foot traffic. After closure it has not carried a working shift since.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The Parsons turbine looms in a long row, its massive exhaust ducts curving overhead, cloaked in rust and graffiti. Once vital to Sydney’s rail and tram network, this powerhouse of industry transformed high-pressure steam into mechanical energy, driving the city’s transportation system forward.

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.