street photography
It’s been a little while between posts. I haven’t had the opportunity to do much shooting since Covid-19 began. However, I did get manage to capture a few images in the city before we went back into lockdown here in Melbourne.
I’ve been eager to document the city in these unprecedented times but have been limited my neighbourhood. Here are a few of my favourites captured with my Fuji X-T100.
Last Friday I attended the Climate Strike in Melbourne. Organisers say roughly 100,000 people filled Treasury Gardens and Spring Street - dwarfing the crowd that attended a strike in March.
Almost 300,000 people marched in cities across Australia for the coordinated rallies - as part of the global movement - but Melbourne hosted the largest turn out.
The energy was incredible as droves of office workers, public servants, tradies, mothers and babies, and politicians joined the protest.
Here are a few of my favourite images from the day. Enjoy!
I've been exploring surrealism in street photography for my latest body of work. Inspired by Trent Parke and his incredible black and white images that encapsulate an ethereal quality while shot in our everyday surrounds.
The master of street photography, Henri Cartier-Bresson was also influenced by surrealism. For me there is something really exciting about playing with ordinary reality, and making it surreal. We are turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.
There are many techniques that have been used when approaching surreal street images. Strange juxtapositions and scenes, silhouettes, double exposures, slow shutter speeds to create blur and the list goes on. Personally, I think the key is to take photos that suggest more questions than provides answers.
I decided to shoot with the iphone for this series. In order to capture the intimacy of these moments I needed to be virtually invisible. Here are some images from the series, as I set out to capture the streets with new eyes.
Picturing Footscray is an open-entry photography prize that focuses on Melbourne's unique inner-west suburb of Footscray.
Established in 2016, Picturing Footscray invites photographers of all capabilities to explore the streets of Footscray.
This was my first time submitting for the competition. I used to live in Footscray and still visit frequently to take photos.
The opening night was held at VU Metro West, in a salon-style exhibition. There was an incredibly diverse range of images that celebrate the essence of this unique melting pot. Jesse Marlow, renowned street photographer was this year's judge and he presented the 3 winners. I've been inspired by Jesse's street photography since moving to Melbourne, so it was a highlight for him to be there on the night.
My entry for the competition is in the centre above.
Jesse Marlow presents awards on opening night.
Over the last few months I've been working hard on creating a body of work that explores the beauty in mundane and extraordinary in the ordinary. Shot in suburban Melbourne, I've aimed to capture and celebrate the special moments that occur in our daily lives. I decided to shoot in suburbia, rather than the city streets that I usually draw inspiration from. It was this decision that made project began to take on an exciting new direction.
Shooting in the everyday landscape of suburbia allowed me to simplify the subject in the frame and to focus on capturing 'the decisive moment' I was seeking. Most importantly I wanted to capture the emotion and the images to resonate with the audience. Here are a few of my favourites from the series. You can view more here.
"Photography is an art of observation – it’s about creating something extraordinary out of the ordinary. You choose a frame and then wait until the right time for something magical to come along and fill it. ” – Elliott Erwitt
I've recently started a new photographic project, 'Street Focus'. I'm documenting people in this series, whether a part of the urban landscape or caught in a candid moment. In our daily lives it's so easy to fixate on what divides us—ethnicity, age, gender and class; instead of what unites us. I'm fascinated with the way we gather and act collectively on the street, on the tram, at work and having fun, it's all superbly similar.
I continually seek evidence that we do absolutely mirror each other despite our vast differences. Every day I am captivated to document the people and the places that surround me on the palpable streets of Melbourne, an incredibly diverse and dynamic place to live.
My passion for street photography started about 5 years ago when I moved to London. I started out shooting on my iPhone for fun and was lucky enough to connect with the mobile photography community early in it’s rise to popularity. I built relationships with some excellent street photographers, such as founders of the Mobile Photo Network, Ollie Lang and Misho Baranovic. It was also around this time that Instagram launched and provided an excellent platform to share my images and learn from others.
There is a rawness and an excitement to shooting on the street that I find addictive. I suppose it’s because you’re concentrating on what’s right in front of you and really 'in the moment'. I photograph urban landscapes too, but I decided to get back out on the streets of the Melbourne CBD and shoot with a focus on the people of the city.
I wanted to get as close as possible to the subjects, which is of course very difficult. It’s quite hard to take a good photo of someone without them noticing. The iPhone provides a discreet and wide angle camera which makes it a good option for street photography.
These were shot on my DSLR at around 50mm, which is closest to what the viewer would see if they were actually there. I'm pretty happy with results and found it quite thrilling getting amongst the action and capturing the people surrounding me. 'Street Focus' will be an ongoing series documenting urban Melbourne. Stay tuned for more images soon and follow the series here on Instagram.
This shot was captured on Flinders Street, during my daily commute home from work. The street crossing provides a good backdrop to capture the energy of Melbourne's CBD, combining interesting architecture with people in motion. Like this image, I shoot and edit a lot of my street images with my iPhone, because it's the camera that's always with me.
