Former Commonwealth Bank - 1950s Hobart

A building on a street corner often provides the opportunity for visually striking designs with this being the case for the former Commonwealth Bank building on the corner of Liverpool and Elizabeth streets. The impressive concrete ribbing and sheer visual bulk provides a commanding presence. The building was officially opened in 1954 to great fanfare, with thousands lining the streets to take a glimpse of the bank which was described as being “the largest and most modern commercial building in Tasmania”. The Mercury newspaper reported on the thousands who came to explore the building at its opening, noting that the public were “fascinated by the Swiss brocade on the walls of the administrative offices, and could not resist running their hands over it, just to see if it were real. The crowd milled incongruously through the sumptuously furnished rooms, footsteps hushed on the deep carpets and ringing on the hard surfaces of the spacious hallways”.

Granite from Coles Bay on the East Coast of Tasmania was used on sections of the exterior and lavishly adorned interior spaces. The building and its patina provide a statement of impressive grandeur, a testament to the importance of banks and their physical presence within cities. I remember the impressive main atrium service area, with its cathedral-like ceilings and the main lobby adorned with local artwork commissioned for the bank, and the lavish stonework in the side entry. It was like stepping back in time to witness a period long since gone. The former bank's exterior wrap around curve provides wonderful opportunities to capture it with the ever changing light throughout the day and seasons. It’s one of my favourite buildings in Tasmania.

This photographs is available as a fine art limited edition print. All prints are signed, numbered and bundled with a COA. All prints are printed using archival pigments inks on archival paper. View my print and book store here

St James' Cathedral - Townsville

St James’ Cathedral in Townsville was designed in stages from 1955 by a Melbourne Architect Louis Williams and in 1959-1960 by Townsville architects, Black and Paulsen. It’s a sticking example of Modernist church architecture. Interestingly the Cathedral started its life in the late 19th Century which can still be seen today when you explore the church where a fusion of Modernism and the original cathedral design from the late 1800s.

Far North Queensland has a rich diversity of design from the Art Deco and Modernist era. Having grown up here, the region has had a big influence on my architectural photography practice and documentation of my Tasmanian Art Deco and Modernism project. I would like to share some of the places and architecture of my childhood in future posts. Like my Tasmanian Art Deco and Modernism project I’ve worked on for over two decades, I have been documenting FNQ for over a similar period of time. Selected photographs from this project are now available on my website store here

Marsden Flats - Launceston

An extraordinary example of Art Deco design in Launceston. This is a very difficult photograph to capture as the subject is relatively long and there is so much sumptuous detail in all of the brickwork to capture. Then there is the traffic and parked cars. Needless to say countless trips to this location to capture what you see here. This photograph is now available for the first time as a limited edition fine art print in various sizes. Prints available through my website www.tryanphotos.com/store

Former Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital

Former Queen Victoria Maternity Hospital - This photograph captures the 1930s hospital and the ''new'' 1960s hospital in the background.

Former Coles Store - Launceston CBD

Perhaps this is the most tiled facade in Tasmania. Designed in the mid 20th Century. This photograph and selected prints from the project are now available as limited edition prints. Printed using fine art paper, archival pigment ink. All prints are shipped with tracking and sign on delivery in Australia. View the store gallery here

10 Murray Street Offices bathed in Spring Glow

First light bathes the concrete cantilever of 10 Murray Street Offices in warm golden spring glow. I loved the way that the light played on this building throughout the day and seasons. For me a lot of what inspires my photography is capturing the geometric and sculptural qualities of a building. 10 Murray Street was a wonderful building to get to know and document over many years and along the journey I became friends with its Architect, Dirk Bolt who was such an inspiration with his commentary on my photographs and being able to ask him questions pertaining to the design of 10 Murray as well as his other buildings in Hobart. Through him I found out his brother, Frank, was a photographer and had a love of documenting the built environment of Tasmania. I enjoy his photographic books I've collected over the years and they serve as an inspiration and reminder of the importance of photography in the documenting and preserving the built environment. The joy perhaps of photography isn't just making photographs, but its the people and history of a place you learn along the way that makes the entire process so rewarding and gives me a reason to wake up early and stay out late. You can view the 10 Murray Street gallery from my many years of documenting on my website here, they are just some of the edited photographs from my collection. I have a selection of limited edition prints available too, all printed using archival papers and pigment inks, signed and numbered available here

Former Boiler House - Royal Derwent Hospital / Willow Court

A major aspect of my passion in photography is documenting our built history for posterity, especially those places and spaces that are about to undergo change. Since documenting for my Tasmanian Art Deco & Modernism project over the past two decades I've witnessed much change in a relatively short period of time. I recently documented the former Royal Derwent Hospital boiler house that was part of a rich tapestry of buildings that provided heat to the vast complex. I captured a series of photographs prior to the chimney stack which was removed early this year. I’ve documented the former hospital site as part of the project and it's a place where many buildings have since been demolished and being there now is as if they never existed. For me it's a place where I look back and am reminded through the photographs I’ve made of the vast site over the years just how quickly things change and how two decades fly by! The power of photography and documenting the past provides an avenue in which to remember our past and be reminded of both our built and cultural landscapes and I am glad to have made a series of photographs of the former boiler house to add to my project and photographs of the former hospital. The beautiful flowers amongst the grass juxtaposed against this industrial landmark were wonderful for photography.

Duncan House - a Launceston Gothic Art Deco Landmark

The impressive Art Deco Gothic inspired design that is Duncan House in Launceston. It was designed as a car showroom in 1934 and stands are a relatively rare example of Gothic Art Deco design in Launceston. I have made many photographs of this building for the project and lost count of the number of times I would visit in order to capture the building in the light I wanted and without cars in view. This image is one from those countless trips made! Now available for the first time as a limited edition print on my website store here Printed on archival cotton rag paper using pigment inks these prints are printed to the highest standard for quality and longevity. All prints come with a COA and personal back story about the building and how I captured the photograph. All prints are shipped using tracking and sign on delivery.

Mintys Mid Century Gem - Hobart

A dramatic cloud formation over the this industrial mid century gem. I love the originality of the facade that included a beautiful original neon Mintys logo (in the middle of the building), the glass curtain wall and the concrete lip at the entry, typical of this period of design. A significant part of what I do for this project is to document places so that there is a record for posterity before places are changed or demolished. I was glad to have captured this photograph before the building underwent redevelopment. For this first time I make this photograph available as a limited edition print available in various sizes. Photographs are printed on archival paper using pigment inks and are signed and numbered. Prints come with a COA including back story on how I captured the photograph. Prints are packed and shipped registered post with sign on delivery. Postage is flat rate for multiple items. View the store for this print and 30+ other prints via the store - www.tryanphotos.com/store

Former Coles Mowbray Supermarket - Launceston

This was the former supermarket at Mowbray in Launceston and my photographic documentation of this building. I also photographed the subsequent demolition and development of a new Coles building on the same site.

The original Coles Supermarket in Mowbray. It was briefly a Dimmys store and in this picture on the wall there is a council demolition notice for the building of the new store.

Documenting for me often includes photographing the demolition and rebuilding process so as to provide context to the evolution of the site over its lifetime.

The original design dates from the circa late 1960s/70s and was typical of supermarket construction during the mid 20th Century. Supermarket chains in Australia often began as more humble affairs located within the central business district. In Launceston both Coles and Woolworths were located in Brisbane Street Mall. After the Second World War population boomed in Tasmania as did suburban expansion which pushed housing out like never before. Couple this with the boom in car sales the design and locations of grocery store chains took on an entirely new design to support this new suburbia.

The Coles Supermarket in Mowbray was one of these new building designs and some other examples in Launceston included the original Coles in Kings Meadows (since demolished) as well as the Kmart shopping Plaza on the edge of the CBD off Boland Street. The supermarkets were often designed with sun filled glass frontages and ample parking, often the parking being many times larger than the store itself. I really enjoyed the design features of the Mowbray Coles with its large awnings typical of the era, the tiles as well as the textured brickwork on the street front. The security grills in the upper windows were a delight too, and similar designs can be seen on domestic fences and interior balustrades of homes from the era. If you look up at the Myer building in Launceston there used to be a café on the top floor, the original railings still remain and are designed in a similar style to this period. I remember photographing the demolition of the Mowbray store and there was the security grill bent and skewed, I wish I could have salvaged it!

The process of documentation of our built environment is so important to me, so that there is a record for posterity. I often look at the works of photographers who I admire such as Stephen Shore and they mention that what they were photographing themselves in the 1960s and 1970s was everyday, decades later it takes on new meanings to new generations as well as a sense of nostalgia. I often think about people who when I am out and about look to say why on earth would you photograph *insert building here* but we are but specs in time and I believe the places and buildings we see and experience are part of what shapes us and our memories. Collectively as a series and as a larger body of work documenting the built environment I feel a sense or duty and urgency to document out built environment before its lost and if not captured just a memory that fades away.

The security grills in the upper windows were a delight too, and similar designs can be seen on domestic fences and interior balustrades of homes from the era.

This perspective of the rubble from the demolition of the original supermarket provided a visual end to the building with all the rubble but the original period mid century grill in the foreground made this photograph for me, a direct connection to the aesthetic of the building amongst the random strewn pieces of building material

The redeveloped Supermarket