Sigma Ruins I
Film: Fujifilm Velvia 100
Camera: Fujifilm Klasse W
If you've been following my photos for a while you'll know that I love Urban Exploration/Urbex/Ruins or whatever you want to call it. I recently saw this massive factory complex getting torn down on the train a couple weeks ago and was really excited to check it out. I waited until the following Sunday to shoot it though, knowing that demolition workers would be on their day off. I didn't see any security around so hopped the fence and ventured in..
It was a huge area that once held various factories that belonged to Australia's main pharmaceutical drug wholesaler, 'Sigma Pharmaceuticals'. I did a quick google search on the site and found that the site was bought up by 'Cedar Wood Properties' and they are planning to redevelop the site into a residential zone which will hold around 250 apartments/town houses. It's pretty cool having these kinds of photos of the area, pre housing zone, as these factories will most likely be forgotten or not even known about by the people living there years from now.
Once inside the complex it felt like I was in some eerie post-apocalyptic wasteland...it was crazy. Everything was half torn down, burnt out and in piles of rubble yet there was hardly any graffiti besides what looked like some teenage kids doodles in a couple rooms. There was about 6 buildings, 2 of which were probably the main factory areas and were HUGE. Every room in these main two factories was gutted, wires hanging from the ceilings and no windows or doors. There was also huge holes in the brick walls between rooms. The other buildings consisted of a burnt out pharmacy/office space, some kind of cafeteria looking building, and others that were gutted to the point where I could only speculate what they once were.
I really regret that I didn't bring my Ricoh GR because I only had about 20 shots remaining in my roll of film loaded in my Klasse W! Everywhere I looked was awesome photos but I had to only take what was necessary to conserve film. I walked around for around an hour and still felt like I hadn't covered the area properly. I would love to go back but it's probably been totally demolished by now. The shots came out slightly over exposed, but these were the best of the lot.
Also, after some feedback from a friend I've decided to start putting the audio tracks on each post at the beginning rather then after the photos. I'm not sure if anyone actually ever listens to the songs I post but it's cool, it's more for myself anyway hah!