new topographics Archives - s2z Photography Blog

Wordless Wednesday #3 2022

Maribrynong river with EJ Whitten Bridge in the background

Flânuering during lockdown 5.0

Melbourne was recently placed into its 5th lockdown since the pandemic began. I found this one more taxing the previous ones. By about the 7th day I decided I needed to get outdoors. I decided to walk aimlessly. Walking aimlessly is harder than it sounds.

So I decided to walk into the park adjacent to our house. Then once on the other side of the park wander in the direction of some incongruous land. This land runs between a rail siding and the medium to light industry either side of it. This gives me access to places that are inaccessible any other way. Carrying a large camera (and tripod) in this instance may not have been permitted by the lockdown rules I suspect. So I carried my small Canon point and shoot as well as my iPhone 12.

I walked for about one and a half hours. I took approximately 6639 steps. Sadly I forgot to run my mapping software as I walked, so I’m using other software to trace my route. In this instance Aperture. I took very few iPhone pictures it seems, anyway. I manually added these images to Aperture’s map feature.

screengrab of map of walk taken 23-07-2021 — The place I walked, 23rd July 2021

All up I took 189 pictures. Below is a small selection of them in chronological order.

Parsons Reserve facing South East 2021-07-23 14:51:59

Abstraction of urban forest Parsons reserve 2021-07-23 14:49:40

Trees and silos at the Western edge of Parsons reserve 2021-07-23 14:53:52

Wright Street Sunshine facing West with Silos in the background — Wright Street with Silos in the background, 2021-07-23 14:59:00

Linda Street Sunshine, facing South West 2021-07-23 15:04:47

Looking North from the Freight Rail siding in Linda Street Sunshine, 2021-07-23 15:08:13

Melbourne Container Park, from the rail siding. 2021-07-23 15:10:15

Looking North from the freight rail siding 2021-07-23 15:11:50

Track along the freight rail siding looking North with Melbourne Container Park in the background 2021-07-23 15:29:28

Facing South West overlooking the old 'Huntsman Refinery Site'. 2021-07-23 15:35:30 — Facing South West overlooking the old ‘Huntsman Refinery Site’. 2021-07-23 15:35:30. Soon to be a major infrastructure site.

Melbourne Grand Prix infrastructure storage 2021-07-23 15:40:36

Pile of stone used as filler 2021-07-23 15:41:23 — Texture, of a pile of stone used as filler 2021-07-23 15:41:23

Atop a rail siding overlooking Melbourne facing south east 2021-07-23 15:36:47

CBD Skyline with Melbourne Grand Prix infrastructure in storage 2021-07-23 15:48:00

Stony Creek and Environs looking West 2021-07-23 15:58:56

Wright Street, Sunshine. Facing North East. Sunbury Train line in the background. 2021-07-23 16:04:52

The whole experience was definitely one of heightened senses, visual, aural and olfactory. This in my mind made the journey one that was entirely psychogeographic, even if only partially aimless.

Some changes are occurring in this area also. I have walked this area on and off since moving to Sunshine in 2000. When I next walk it, who knows? The ninth picture is about to undergo a major infrastructure project. This is one of the reasons I walked there. I shall return and use a film camera soon hopefully.

Melbourne, a Zombie city?

Much 21st-century architectural discourse has orbited around two dominant paradigms of urbanism: on the one hand, the rapidly growing city-region, exemplified by the Pearl River Delta; on the other, the shrinking post-industrial city, exemplified by Detroit.

Matthew Soules, “Zombies and Ghosts,” Places Journal, May 2021. Accessed 07 Jul 2021. <https://placesjournal.org/article/zombies-and-ghosts-architecture-and-finance-capitalism/>

Wordless Wednesday #20210303

New Projects?

I have been thinking a lot of late about Melbourne International Airport lately. I regularly visit there as my wife travels frequently for her job. I often collect her and occasionally drop her off. I also love flying and aeroplanes generally. The history of the creation and development of Melbourne International Airport, or Tullamarine, is well documented. I can add my own history of the place too. I was a young boy when construction wound down. I used to ride my bicycle there and wander around and explore. There was a working model of the airport showing how the ATC operated with moving models, and commentary. Which I have fond memories of.

While I do not currently live in the same postcode as the airport I am very close and can easily get there in a matter of minutes if the light beckons. Sometime in 2019 I decided to start visiting the edges of the airport to try and make interesting pictures, or perhaps document the changes as they occurred. I started the idea using colour. I have shot about six rolls of 120.

A day or two ago I went in search of more pictures near the airport. I took several cameras. But made no pictures on colour film of the edges of the airport. Using a DSLR I managed to scope some good spots that might be worthy of a revisit. One of the ideas that are floating in my mind as I think about this place is the use of the land on the edges of the airport, where does the airpot begin and end, how is it defined.

The edges of the airport are predominantly industrial as the nearest suburb is Gladstone Park on the southern edge. Sunbury is on its north western edge and Avondale Heights on its Southern edge. The industrial land close to the airport is mostly distribution centres with some training and maintenance facilities. These are ordinary concrete structures reminiscent of Lewis Baltz’s work ‘The New Industrial Parks near Irvine California’. I am hoping to avoid making picture of these. I’m more interested in how the land is used in an area that has largely been frozen in terms of development since the airport was constructed in the late 1960s.

The airport has its own postcode. Which makes preplanning visits easy. As I grew up in the area I have a knowledge of the environment that few would recognise. As a cab driver in my mid 20s. I learned all about accessing the airport from every direction too. I am using all this knowledge to visit and revisit areas in and around the publicly accessible areas of the airport. My current process is just wander/drive and see what turns up.

The image above, hosted on flickr is an example of that research.

Meanwhile on Flickr…

Throwback Thursday [Pandemic Edition #2]

An film shot image from nearly 10 years ago says a lot about where I was at in my image making — Highly designed urban living in the Docklands. A source of fascination for me in the early 2000s.

In 2009, it seems I was working in and around the Docklands precinct of Melbourne. Using colour film and my Hasselbald. This work is likely to sit in my archive its use undetermined. I had begun working there as early as 1993 or so. In those days the site was still a lingering industrial wasteland. See image below shot on 5×4 and black and white film.

The Doclands circa 1993 — An area of the docklands undergoing reclamation. This time shot on 5 x 4 black and white film.