At one time Central Railway Station was just a place I passed though on my way to my own stations. Now I arrive there of a morning and depart from there of an afternoon. Because the trams that carry me to and from my final destination do not run according to a specific schedule, I also spend at least half an hour there each day. Consequently some of my PADs over the course of this year will be documenting bits and pieces of the station.

We begin with something that you’ll rarely see any longer; a bank of public telephones. Under the terms of its universal service obligation, Telstra (the one time monopoly communications company) is still obliged to provide pay telephones to allow people to stay in contact. And it does. But rarely in banks like these any more, just one or two, here and there. With everyone and their dog having a mobile these days, there’s a decreasing amount of demand for public telephones.

If I come back and shoot this spot in 5 years, there may be one telephone here but that would be about all.

And Clark Kent will still need to go into the lavatories down at the far end of the hall to change.

I went for this angle because I liked the way the curve of the booths was echoed by the curve of the ceiling. So yes it’s an arguably lazy PAD, but not a completely lazy one.

Last Year