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infinite detail to harness in a captured image. In
my photographs, I have attempted to convey a
snapshot of a city proud of its built heritage.
Staying at the Grand Chancellor Hotel on
Cameron Street was an excellent choice as a
central base from which to set off every morning- dressed for the nippy breezes blowing across
the North Esk River, and with a small camera
kit bag over the shoulder. My only real plan for
covering as much of the central city as possible,
was to head off in different directions each
morning! To the north – and within minutes of
leaving the hotel – I was at the North Esk River
and photographing the impressive modern
University Of Tasmania hostel building across on
the north bank. I thought this image was better in
monochrome due to the simple forms and strong
blocks of lit and unlit buildings adjacent to the
calm river water.
Across the river and walking around the UoT
campus – in the historic Inveresk precinct – are
corrugated iron-clad tramway buildings which
flank the bending North Esk. The assortment
of saw-tooth roofed buildings gleaming in
the 6.00am sun again lent itself to black and
white, while the patchwork appearance of the
corrugated iron sheathing was better represented
in glorious colour.
Inside the workshops of the Tramway
Museum, the low-light capabilities of the Sony
RX10 successfully captured the paint shop
and its brightly-coloured signs. West of the
campus and tramway on Lindsay Street is the
Arthouse Hostel, resplendent in ochre yellow
weatherboards and rich red and white accents.
Heading back to my hotel, just south of the
City Park along Tamar Street is a collection of
interesting buildings including the stunning
Design Tasmania gallery and exhibition building
by architects David Travalia and Richard
Leplastrier, featuring finely-crafted wooden
furniture from Tasmanian timbers, a gallery
shop and an open courtyard.ArchitecturAl QuAlity
To the south are many attractive examples
of Victorian and Edwardian era houses and
churches, located in the matrix of streets east
of Prince’s Square. Of particular interest is the
former Gothic Revival church on the corner of
Fredrick and St John Streets. This compact,
yet handsomely-proportioned masonry churchexhibits all the signs of a well-worn shoe – its
structure is apparently sound, but no longer able
to hide the distressed and tired peeling paint and
delaminated plaster.
Head south towards South Launceston and
the tight weave of double-storey colonial terraces
gives way to Federation-style and early 20th
century buildings. On the corner of Wellington
and Lithgow Streets, sits an attractive stucco
house named Alwyn, positioned well back on
a large plot behind pencil conifers and bright
and bold plantings in the front yard. En route, I
passed the fine Launceston College buildings on
Paterson Street, including the four striking palm
trees in the forecourt. Perhaps it was because
of my automatic tendency to look at heritage
buildings, I did not take much notice of the
modern developments occurring in Launceston’s
city centre, but there is quite a bit of activity
going on. One block that clearly is destined for
new things to come is the mostly vacant land
between Wellington and Charles Streets east of
Royal Park. Here though, my attraction was to the
buildings in distress, the buildings on a lean and
those missing much of their anatomy, but which
offer plenty of potential as photographic subjects.
Moving into the heart of the commercial
centre, I was impressed by the architectural1All photographs by Lloyd Macomber, copyright 2017.- Paint shop 2. St Frederik Church
“From the perspective
oF someone who looks
at and thinks about old
buildings every day as
a job, launceston’s city
centre is a little gem.”CamMayJune17_046-052 PhotoPlaces.indd 50 13/04/2017 12:16 AM