It’s time to share another of my fixations. Adelaide is still giving here and if you’ve been playing along for a while you can probably tell me what I love about this inner city, industrial scene… feel free to say so in the comments if you’re brave… if you’re new here click the #fixations tag above and you’ll get the idea!
Industrial photography
Botanicca Spec Suite
Here’s something else from late last year - a calming, neutral spec suite by Amicus. Gentle curves and a soft palette, mirroring the nearby Yarra River and bushland, made this space a pleasure to move around.
Six Degrees
Shot late last year for Amicus, the offices of Six Degrees, a Melbourne recruitment group. A calming and sophisticated workplace set amongst the South Yarra sky scrapers in Goldfields House.
Milwaukee Tools by PTID and Amicus
I wasn’t sure what to expect as I drove towards this project in Knotting Hill. I knew it was 4,000sqm, a mix of commercial and industrial spaces and on the site of the former Toyota Technical Centre. What I found was a bold and clever update and reuse of an existing space, which offered some great opportunities for photography. I had particular fun playing with colour, which you know I’m a fan of and the unexpectedly green building surrounds. Hats of to PTID and Amicus for what they’ve achieved here.
Fixations 3
So here we are again. Fixated. This time in Adelaide and quite some time ago. What is it I’m seeing?
Colour plays a part here. The palette of this little scene reminds me, somewhat cringingly and somewhat fondly of a check shirt I wore in the nineties - blue, beige and brown. And I can’t resist a bit of yellow, divisive as it is as a colour.
From colour to texture - organic and manmade - rocks and stone, contrasting with the industrial elements of iron, steel and aluminium.
What else? Lines. Always lines. Lines of different widths and heights and orientations - repeating, crossing, meeting. Curved lines to interrupt the straight. Order in the chaos.
There’s a hint of pareidolia (google it) - though I’m never seeking it or deliberately framing for it.
Finally it’s the little reminders of the natural environment to soften the industrial hardness - soft clouds, palm tree and even a little shadow.
There’s just something about industry that draws me in as it did one of my favourite Australian painters and significant influencer of my work, Geoffrey Smart.
Elizabeth Morgan House
A light-filled, warm-toned office by Amicus for Elizabeth Morgan House, the peak body in Victoria for Aboriginal women and children, advising Aboriginal Organisations, Government & NGO sector on issues affecting Aboriginal women & families.
Kilcoy Global Foods Kyneton by Amicus
I hit the road a couple of times earlier this year to shoot the new home of Kilcoy Global Foods for Amicus. Set just out of town in a semi rural, industrial estate it was a nice change from busy, bustling Melbourne. In a first for Amicus, they have designed both the interiors and the building itself.
Floor to Ceiling Ply by Meredith Lee
Now this is different. Floor to ceiling ply at this new studio in Clifton Hill by Meredith Lee. What can I say, it’s just so pretty! Sigh.
