Lost Collective

 These images are from Lost Collective a project by Brett Patman. It is a visual and written record of the forgotten and neglected built environments that pervade society. The key focus of the project is documenting the important roles that people and places played in shaping the communities who collectively make up the identity of our societies, engaging everyday people through evocative imagery, to reconnect with past lives and even former friends. It encourages people to share their stories, stories that would otherwise be forgotten as society progress and generations age. 

Every location has a story of its past; it’s present state and in some cases, a plan for the future. From rural country towns to energetic inner-city suburbs, derelict power stations and heavy industry to the tiny farmstead. All these buildings had significance in one way or another. Finding this from the words of the people who made so is what Lost Collective is all about. Societies change, and abandoned buildings come and go, but it’s important to remember and record our heritage amongst the ever increasing rush to replace the old with the new. We only get one chance to do this.

In a recent post Brett showcased a couple of now-and-thens - the Terminus Hotel in Sydney.

He was inspired to blend a historical image into one of his own (as have I). The left side is from the Noel Butlin Archives, Australian National University, taken c1970. The right is one Brett took on 19 March 2015. As well as simply aligning and blending the images, he has taken elements from each era and masked them from one into the other in the same position as they were. The vine has arguably been one of the most recognisable features of this amazing old pub, and while the vine is now long gone (the pub has since been renovated and reopened to customers), he couldn't resist brushing it back into the past over the historical image. 

His other image is of the W.H Lucas/Delegate Motors garage. (Delegate is just over the border in New South Wales on the way to Bombala). To blend an old and new photo together but for it to work properly, the perspective of the two images really needs to be exact or at least very close. He has layered these images over one another and added a transparent gradient so that the old photo gradually blends into the new one. The original photo on the left side was taken by Alma Reed, c1940. The right side of the photo was taken by Brett on December 22, 2018.

Always a fan of the Now-and-then, hope he does more.