You’re invited to Magnet Galleries’s September Exhibition!

Photographer Bill McAuley has preserved a moment in time that might otherwise have slipped quietly into history. His exhibition, Last Light on Victoria Dock 1999, honours an industrial landscape once central to Melbourne’s story, yet long overlooked.

McAuley’s lens captures Victoria Dock in its twilight years – its weathered piers and ageing sheds standing as echoes of the city’s working waterfront. Though located at Melbourne’s heart, the dock was already fading from view, both physically and in memory.

Originally constructed between 1887 and 1892, Victoria Dock was an engineering wonder of its day – the largest single dock in the world. With 21 berths, towering sheds, and cranes running along railway lines, it was a hive of activity. By the 1950s it was moving two million tonnes of cargo a year, a figure that surged to 20 million tonnes in the 1980s, before containerisation reshaped global shipping and brought this era to an end.

Through dramatic light, colour, and atmosphere, McAuley’s photographs reveal a decaying dockscape rich in character and memory. Last Light on Victoria Dock 1999 is not just an exhibition – it is a vivid evocation of Melbourne’s old waterfront, and a tribute to a time that shaped the city we know today.

Meet Bill McAuley – Sunday 21 September 2 – 4pm

📅 4 – 27 September 2025
🕙 Gallery Hours:
Wednesday–Friday: 10am–4pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11am–4pm
📍 Magnet Galleries (SC G19 Wharf st, The District, Docklands, VIC 3008)

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