urban landscape Archives - s2z Photography Blog

Wordless Wednesday 2023-08-30 | 002

Urban Landscape in East Keilor, with scrubby bush in the middle ground, wispy clouds in the sky and powerlines on the horizon — East Keilor 2023-08-27 16:20:22

Drossscape in flux

Some time after 2005, I photographed this caravan park that was being remodelled into something more modern.

As I work my way though my colour negative archive I’m rediscovering work. Long forgotten and seen now with fresh eyes, having seemingly more impact.

I may have even photographed around the park before its remodelling.

It’s rare that I get so many “keepers” from one or two rolls of film, of course not having looked at the images for more than a decade might have something to do with it.

Flowers cling on desperately while all around is chaos

More plant life hanging on for grim life

The original admin building with the silos in the background

Here’s a digital image made near the caravan park before demolition had begun. Taken in 2005. Look closely at the background and you’ll see several vans still in place and part of the fence.

A open field in sunshine with a disused telegraph pole in the foreground. a dramaitic sky and an old abandoned caravan park n the background. Taken in October 2005 — A drosscape in Sunshine, former caravan park seen in the background.

I recently had the good fortune to stay overnight in a suburb called Frankston. While not that distant from where I live, it is far enough away to be out of the way. I haven’t walked the streets of this shopping precinct in Frankston for more years than I can remember. I in fact I may have never walked this part of Frankston. But I spent an hour or two wandering the CBD of this bayside suburb.

To say I was pleasantly surprised would be putting it mildly. I only have vague recollections of the shopping centre. It is now serviced by all the major food chains and there was lot s of pedestrian friendly “open” space.

I have to admit it’s rare that I feel a tourist in Melbourne, but here I was in Frankston feeling completely foreign; like the proverbial ‘fish out of water’. Nonetheless I could not help myself and wander about and grab a few images that caught my eye. As is often the case I found the small laneways and backstreets the most compelling.

Here’s a series of pictures I thought looked interesting.

a collection of dumped or abandoned chairs in a laneway in Frankston

Backs of older buildings often have more interesting things to see.

Murals everywhere, is it street art though?

The train station precinct in Frankston, surprisingly quiet for 8:00am on a Tuesday.

A red sign indicating the direction of the beach amongst the pedestrianised area south of the Train station.

When these pictures make it to flickr, they will be titled with their exact time, and include geotag coordinates.

Thirty Plus Years Ago

A dark industrail scene from Melbourne's west in the early 1990s, in the foreground a pit of dark water, electric poles occupy the middle ground along with some fences sheds and other infrastructure container and a giant electricity transmission pylon can be seen in the distance, the sky has a smattering of small clouds — West Melbourne circa 1992

I was recently gifted a scanner. Thanks to Gary. This now means I can scan any or all of my analogue work on an as needs basis. All I need is time. This image has always stayed with me since I made it around 1992. It is one my earliest successes using 5×4 inch film. However it never moved beyond a contact print as the emulsion had been damaged in a couple of places.

Now using Affinity Photo, I am at least able to resurrect it and use it online. I may some day get a commercial scan and make a big print from it. In what context I’m not sure. I use Affinity Photo because it has a perpetual license and a few technical advantages over PotatoeShop.

I have been photographing this area for a long time and the changes are significant. I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Even after the major infrastructure project is over the mix of light industry along with the decaying heavy industry and modern architectural flourishes makes this in my mind an interesting place to photograph.

Wordless Wednesday #8 2022

Wordless Wednesday #3 2022

Maribrynong river with EJ Whitten Bridge in the background

Wordless Wednesday #2 2022

Melbourne CBD from Brooklyn Landfill 19/12/2021 17:45:15

On the cusp

As we reach the end of summer here in Australia, I’ve been exploiting the the effects of La Niña. With the Melbourne Art Book Fair approaching rapidly, I was hesitant to head out to make pictures but this Friday the weather was just right, so I exploited that and made pictures for a couple of hours.

I initially set out to make some pictures as teaching aids, but as I was on a bridge near the ring road, I decided to wander towards an aspect of the Maribrynong river that has always intrigued me.

I started under the EG Whitten bridge. A sad spot in so many ways. So much rubbish just dumped. I am unsure about the status of the land under the bridge as well. I know that the edges of rivers up to the high tide mark are considered crown land, but this land is well above that and also bordered by some private land. The western side of the river seems mostly private. This has been heavily impacted by trail bikes and other uses. This is the part I found most interesting. As the bike riders reshape the topography.

An early influence for me as a student of photography was Joe Deal’s work, The Fault Zone Portfolio, a group of 19 silver gelatin prints that documented suburban life along the San Andreas Fault Line in Southern California. This place reminds me of that except the forces at play are much more human in scale.

I only took digital equipment with me on this occasion. Given what I saw I’m sure a return visit is in order with at least my Hasselblad. It would be no mean feat to cary this equipment in, but more than worth it under the right lighting conditions.

Maribrynong River from the EJ Whitten Bridge in 2019

Rubbish, and sticker art under the EJ Whitten Bridge

Landfill to the left and natural landscape to the right

Skies

I keep talking about the skies this summer, here’s a sample.

Summer 2021-2022

For the second year running the skies in Melbourne have been far more photographic and overcast than I remember in summer.

I really exploited this in the quiet period from when I started my holidays to the new year. Many construction sites are closed at this time of year. This makes it even easier to photograph these places. I have shot more than 3 rolls of 120 film and about 20 sheets of 5×4 film. The results at this point seem pleasing.

This year I didn’t borrow a digital DSLR from work so the only digital files I’m making are using my iPhone.

These are the images I’m adding to this post. I also used the quiet time to scout a few possible locations moving forward. I’m very interested in the infrastructure projects going on right now all around Melbourne. In particular I’m interested in the ones that are close to me ie the inner west.

These are going to change the fabric of these suburbs. For better or worse I don’t know. But change they will and I’m trying to capture as much as I can, while I can.