Urban photomontage series

I have embarked on a new project recently and this piece is my starting point for exploration. I have been capturing the ghost signs and architecture around Melbourne for the past few years. I am constantly inspired by the old buildings and the faded lettering, they are so unique and visually beautiful.

I decided to take these images a step a further. Using photo collage I can reassemble the image, making an everyday urban landscape into striking, surreal image that dwells in the space between real and imagined.

Nightcapes, Melbourne

I've always been drawn to night photography, particularly the urban landscape. There’s something cinematic about the mood a scene creates with colour and available light. With Melbourne in lockdown, I thought this would be a great opportunity to capture the quiet and lonely streets of my neighbourhood. These are some shots I’ve taken within 5km of my house on my evening walks. Night time has always been this time of mystery and uncertainty. That makes for an exciting an environment to work.

'Melbourne Street' Video

In recent months I’ve been experimenting with some video. As an extension of my interest in Melbourne’s urban landscape, I decided to explore an experimental piece that captures the city through my eyes. I wanted to combine a variety of visuals that celebrate the aesthetic and the energy of the city. Using a variety of stills and video as well as some experimental editing techniques, I’ve aimed to to produce a collage of urban fragments. Experimenting with moving image has inspired many new ideas and look forward to exploring more visual ideas in the new year!

I hope you enjoy Melbourne Street.

The Typeset - Ghost Signs, Melbourne

As part of ongoing documentary project ‘The Typeset’, Leanne Franks and I have collaborated to share our passion for old signs that have been preserved on building walls for long periods of time. The signage may have been preserved for nostalgic appeal or simply forgotten by their owner. We have set out to capture the ghost signs of Melbourne in all their unique beauty. Here is one from Burke Street in Melbourne’s CBD.

You can see more from the series here http://www.lesleybourne.com/ghost-signs/

Reflections: A photo series

I’ve been out shooting footage for a short film about urban Melbourne in recent weeks. As I hit the streets to capture the essence of the city, I had the opportunity to capture some stills in the process. It’s been great to look for interesting new scenes in the urban landscape. I’m always looking at new and interesting ways to document my surrounds. I was drawn to the abstract qualities of the reflections from buildings in the CBD and it’s inspired to me to start a new series.

Here’s the image that sparked my enthusiasm! Stay tuned.

Urban reflection - Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

'Urban Impresssions' - New series

I'm drawn to the surface of the urban landscape and the overlooked beauty of elements that combine to produce a contemporary canvas. These fragments and details attract my eye and I feel the irresistible urge to record them. From drawings on cave walls to graffiti tags in alleyways, humans have marked their environment from the beginning.

Whether a political statement, an artistic expression, or the tag on an individual, the walls of our cities reflect the layered history of it’s people and a moment in time. Through human intervention and degradation, these layers become a collective collage of the citizens, forming a dialogue between city and people.

By use of the photographic lens, I aim to frame this communication, creating juxtapositions to draw comparisons and thereby create narratives based on social and political commentary. I’m equally intrigued by the abstraction on the walls of the city, both reducing it to impressions and revealing the accidental collisions of texture and intention which exist in cities at every scale.

I aim to celebrate the aesthetic of impermanence and imperfection and to reflect on a moment in time in a constantly changing landscape. I aim to challenge the viewer to look at their surrounds in new ways and highlight the beauty in the decay.

“I AM NOT INTERESTED IN SHOOTING THINGS NEW, I AM INTERESTED TO SEE THINGS NEW.”

— Ernst Haas