10 MURRAY STREET

GALLERY

10 Murray Street in Hobart was the Tasmanian Government State Offices from 1969 until 2017. It was demolished in 2018 as part of the redevelopment of the area known as Parliament Square. The development followed a lengthy and passionate battle to save 10 Murray Street through planning tribunals and courts. The battle was lost, not in the court system, but because of a government that was committed to the development and that finally, when it wasn’t going to succeed, enacted legislation to make it happen.

I worked in 10 Murray Street for 12 years. During that time, my opinion of it as an unexceptional concrete tower block that I didn’t care too much about changed. In 10 Murray Street I began to see a bold, magnificent structure that had its own beauty, an unapologetic presence and countless unseen elements to discover. The thing that changed my mind was the fight to save the building. Not the technical details and the legal arguments, but the photographs I saw during this time, which showed me a side to the building I had never seen before. I crossed the line from ambivalent occupant to passionate supporter and began my own photographic journey of documenting and exploring this wonderful place.

I started documenting 10 Murray Street in 2011. As its fate became more certain, my desire to photograph and preserve it became stronger but I knew very little about photographing buildings. My work was trial and error and inspired by other artists who were doing a much better job than I could have hoped to. Most of my early photos were taken on my iPhone and it was only towards the end of 10 Murray Street’s life that I began to use my sadly neglected camera.

My 10 Murray Street project consists of photographs taken over the years 2011 to 2017.