As it the custom in the construction industry it is common to mark certain progressions or moments during the progress of the build. One such event is the commencement actual build. This is marked by an event called, “ground-breaking”. I have described the nature and context of this type of convention in previous posts…click here for more info.
I was commissioned by ESR to document the “welcome to country” and “gound-breaking” at a new Huntingwood location. The following are a series of images from the day….Uncle Davis King was the elder assigned to give the “welcome to country”. This was followed by a series of speeches, one by Scott Falvery (ESR GM for Development-NSW) and the other by the Hon Carol Israel, Deputy Mayor of Blacktown. The event ended with the ceremonial “ground-breaking” with the inscribed shovels, followed by coffee and croissants.
I do enjoy shooting large warehouses in industrial areas of Sydney, areas that I would normally not venture as I live close to the city centre and have few opportunities to visit. Admittedly, it a bit of drive each time as these logistical centres are perched more towards the out-lying, less residential suburbs.
Recently I captured a new build for ESR Australia, a complex of 3 separate warehouses at Villawood. I photographed the exterior and interior of warehouse 2 and 3, with warehouse 1 still receiving the finishing touches on the build, before being handed over to the tenants. So not yet ready to be photographed.
As I have mentioned before there is something very “zen” about photographing architecture and particularly these warehouse complexes. You are normally alone in this industrial landscape full of concrete and metal, walking exaggerated distances to circumnavigate these large structures from all angles and working, generally, up to dusk, hoping for the light to soften and illuminate your subject more sensually than in the stark midday sun.
One can never be sure of how the light will fall. Sometimes by chance or diving providence everything just falls into place….the light is pleasing, the shadows are right, the highlights are right, the sky is interesting enough to enhance the image the way you would like (for example I like a bit of cloud formation), may be a cloud obscures the direct sun at the right time, at the right place, for a great shot. Suffice to say you don’t always get what you would like with so many variables. Occasionally you do and it’s magic!
Some photography jobs stay with you not because of the lighting, or the composition challenges, or even the scale of the client — but because of the sheer spectacle of what’s unfolding in front of your lens. My recent shoot at the ESR-developed warehouse in Moorebank was very much one of those days.
I was commissioned to photograph a helicopter lift ten very large air-conditioning units, one by one, onto the roof of this enormous new warehouse for final installation and connection. On paper, this sounds impressive enough. In reality, standing there on the ground as it happened was something else entirely.
The helicopter itself was a Black Hawk — a serious piece of machinery. Once part of the US military fleet, it’s now been purchased and is operated here in Australia. There’s something unmistakably purposeful about a machine like this: it doesn’t just arrive, it announces itself. You feel it before you see it. The sound, the downdraft, the absolute presence of it in the sky makes everything else around it seem momentarily small.
What made the day even more remarkable was knowing what it took just to get the aircraft to site. The Black Hawk had flown in that morning from Orange, where it is hangared. The logistics involved in mobilising something like this with absolute precision, plus the speed and efficiency of the entire team was amazing…all ten units were put into place in under two hours.
Adding another layer to the story, the flight required two pilots. One had flown in from the US, because the Australian pilot still needed to log more hours on this particular machine before he’s fully qualified to fly it solo. It was a reminder that even with all this raw power and engineering, the human element — skill, training, experience — remains absolutely central.
From a photographic point of view, it was a dream brief: scale, motion, machinery, and a very real sense of risk and precision all wrapped into one. Watching each unit being carefully lifted, flown, and lowered into place was like witnessing a highly-choreographed aerial ballet — just with a lot more noise and wind.
Days like this are a good reminder of how many extraordinary things happen in the background of construction and infrastructure projects, and how lucky I am to occasionally get a front-row seat to document them.
I was recently commissioned by ESR, a leading developer, owner, and manager of industrial and logistics real estate. With projects spanning across the Asia-Pacific region, ESR creates the kind of infrastructure that underpins how our cities function — from the warehouses that store goods to the distribution centres that keep supply chains moving.
My latest shoot for them took me to Wetherill Park, where ESR has completed a new warehouse complex made up of four distinct buildings. These immense structures rise from the western Sydney landscape, commanding attention not just through their size but through their purpose — serving as vital arteries in the logistics network of a growing city.
I began shooting in the afternoon and worked until dusk, when the light grew softer. The quiet transition from day to evening is one of my favourite times to photograph; the stillness of the outer west makes you pause and reflect on just how much infrastructure is required to sustain the concentrated population closer to the city’s centre. For most of us, this vast logistical framework remains invisible, yet it is essential to the way we live and work every day.
From a technical standpoint, photographing warehouses of this scale demands careful attention to form and structure. These buildings are geometric and monumental, so framing becomes about emphasising clean lines, proportions, and the relationship between the built form and the surrounding landscape. Light is another critical consideration — harsh midday sun can flatten the details, while late afternoon and evening light adds dimension and mood. Managing exposure is also key: balancing shadow and highlight to preserve detail across such expansive façades.
I enjoy photographing these structures which are neither decorative nor ornamental. They embody purpose, efficiency and scale – qualities that, when seen through the lens, reveal their own quiet beauty.
