[Photo walk] Along Flinders Street
Taking off her coat so her friend can take her photo
Photo of two women standing in the shadows beneath an elevated set of train tracks. One woman is in the process of taking off her winter coat as she walks away from her friend. The other woman is holding her phone up, waiting for her friend to pose for the photograph that she is about to take.
Food hall, open 24 hours
Photo of a free-standing, single-storey, glass-covered shop sandwiched between a tall building and a set of elevated train tracks (on which a train is running). A large neon sign on top of the building reads, in all-capital letters ‘food hall’. A smaller sign next to this, also in all-caps, reads ‘24hr 7 days open’. A couple with two children are crossing a small laneway that next to the building, heading towards this door of this shop.
Tags on a no-smoking sign outside Melbourne Aquarium
Photo of a no-smoking sign affixed to a brick wall. The sign has been thoroughly defaced with several graffiti tags and stickers.
Chilling in Enterprize Park along the Yarra River
Photo of a man sitting on a bench next to a park that runs along an urban river. The man is wearing a warm, brown coat and appears to be looking at his smartphone.
One of the scar trees in Enterprize Park
Photo looking up along a ‘scar tree’ installed between a park (with tall, growing trees) and a metal gantry along an elevated train line.
Enterprize Park commemorates the spot where the first settlers aboard the ship Enterprize went ashore on 30 August 1835.
Today, it is the site of the Scar Project, a collaborative installation by Aboriginal artists who used original wharf poles from Queens Bridge to engage with the tradition of tree scarring.
Traditionally, Aboriginal people would take pieces of bark from trees to make canoes, shields or baby cradles. The resulting ‘scar trees’ would also serve as signposts for other clans to know they had entered the land of another community. These trees are rare today, but for Aboriginal people they are very precious.
Read more about this artwork: Scar – A Stolen Vision.
Walking through the scar trees in Enterprize Park
Photo of a man carrying his shopping in a couple of large plastic bags walking through the Scar Project artwork installation in Enterprize Park in Melbourne. This photo was taken from inside a brick archway next to this artwork
The City of Melbourne commissioned eight indigenous artists to create a relocatable permanent public artwork for the city.
Initially placed in the city square, the 24 poles that form the work “Scar – A Stolen Vision” are now permanently located in Enterprize Park adjacent to the Melbourne Aquarium.
The works, by eight indigenous artists, are all vertical timber poles, somewhat like trees, and reflect various interpretations of the relationship between the artists culture and the modern western city.
Read more about this artwork: Scar – A Stolen Vision.
Underneath the elevated train tracks that run along Flinders Street
Photo looking upwards at a set of elevated train tracks. The top half of the photo shows the metal girders underneath the train tracks. The bottom half of the photos shows the large pillars on which the elevated track rests. The pillars have a slate and red brick façade around them. A road that runs underneath these elevated tracks has a few cars on it, as well as a person riding an e-bike.
Looking down at a broken uplight
Photo of a commercial uplight that lights the underside of a set of elevated train tracks. The light is build into the asphalt, but its glass front has been shattered. Inside the light are several brown leaves. The photographer’s white sneakers and the cuffs of his black jeans are visible in the bottom of the photo.
No road next to this pillar
Photo of a faded yellow sign with large, black, all-capital letters that reads ‘no road’. This sign is painted on a large, red-brick pillar that is holding up a set of elevated train tracks. Behind the pillar is a road with cars on it. Across this road, and extending in the background, are several buildings.
There’s a bin literally just around the corner
Photo of a large, brown, take-away coffee cup that’s been left next to the green railing of a set of stairs that leads down to a walkway along an urban river.
Picnicking on the Yarra River
Photo of a large bridge across an urban river in the middle of a city. Several people are standing along the bridge railing, taking photos. A rented ‘Go Boat’ motor boat with picnickers on it is about to cross under this bridge.