Brett Patman photographs abandoned buildings to create a visual record of Australia's built environment, industries and businesses.

He shares the photos online to engage everyday people by, "encouraging them to reconnect with former lives and sometimes former friends."

Brett took a day trip to Taree to photograph the factory.

"I had known about it for a while, I'd heard other people talking about it and seen photos that other people had taken. I had it in the back of my mind to visit for about a year or two," said Brett.

The result of the trip was a stunning set of eerie photos inside the factory's various production rooms.

Brett has been photographing inside abandoned buildings for around five years.

His work inside Pyrmont's historic Terminus Hotel featured in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Lost Collective Facebook community has over 15,000 likes.

But what is it like to walk inside these buildings?

"If it's a building I don't have permission I get a bit panicky at the start worrying about getting caught," he said.

"Noises like doors slamming and corrugated iron flapping in the wind never help to calm the nerves.

"It's easy for the mind to get carried away, especially if I'm alone which I usually am."

Brett says once he settles in he can focus. "I seem to forget about all that and just get into the groove of what I'm doing."

Brett says it never used to be "spooky" until a few instances while travelling in Japan

When shooting in a small hospital in a town bordering becoming a ghost town he came across an operating theatre with surgical tools all over the floor, and on the table was a bone saw.

"Then in a school, I turned a corner and there was a real taxidermied seal sitting in the hallway, it was posed roaring and about six foot tall.

"It was terrifying. I thought it was a bear."

After editing the factory photos Brett approached Cundletown and Lower Manning Historical Society, seeking out former factory workers and information they might have.

"They tend to have the first hand information and the connection to the images that completes the written story as well as the visual one told by the photos."

Cundletown and Lower Manning Historical Society gave detailed information to Brett and informed him of their 'Dairy Factory Reunion' as part of the National Trust Heritage Festival 2016. The reunion is on this Sunday May 15, from 10am to 4pm where dairy factory workers, past and present, farmers and members of the community are invited to attend.

As part of the reunion there will be a demonstration of butter and ice cream making by Michael and Jo Barlin of Kingston Creek Creamery. President of the society Margaret Love said Brett provided them with copies of the photos and they will be on display at the reunion.

Brett said the photos are his, "unique way to try and capture some of Australia's heritage."

When posting his photos on social media he encourages the sharing of stories to enable people to reminisce about their connection to the history as part of these places.

The Local Collective website details these memories as, "Stories that would otherwise be forgotten as society progresses and generations age."

The Lost Collective aims, "to raise awareness to the important roles these people and places contributed in shaping the communities who collectively make up our identity of society today."

"Every location has a story of its past, its present state, and in some cases a plan for the future. From rural country towns to busy inner city suburbs, hulking power stations to tiny farmsteads. All these buildings had some kind of impact with those who surround it."

"We only get one chance to record this and I think it something that has value in documenting for posterity.

"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."

For further information on the dairy factory reunion call Margaret Love on 6553 9574.

You can see more of Brett's work his Facebook page here