Exploring South Melbourne, Port Melbourne & Princes Pier
Had a little bit of time up my sleeve this May, so I grabbed the camera and headed out on another photo walk. Figured why not stretch it out and hit a few different spots. There’s something about wandering through other neighbourhoods that always sparks some kind of inspiration, especially when the light’s good and autumn’s doing its thing with the trees.
My first stop was South Melbourne, one of those areas that still feels like it’s holding onto Melbourne’s older character. Just a few clicks south of the CBD, but it feels like a step sideways in time. Victorian-era homes line the streets, and you can just tell some of them have seen more than a few lifetimes. I love the way people update these older places. Modern renovations, a splash of fresh paint, little front gardens that are neat but full of personality.
Some go full minimalist, others lean into colour and charm, either way, they make for great photos in my mind.
I was drawn to the balance in this shot. The clean, bright cream facade of the house set against the deep green tones of the climbing tree.
The bold structure and soft organic textures play off each other beautifully.
I always find myself taking an extra minute just to look at the details, and it’s these moments that inspire me to capture a photo, kind of like a bookmark. How someone’s styled their porch, or what’s growing along the nature strip, those little touches that show how people live with and shape their spaces. Add in all the autumn leaves blanketing the sidewalks, and the whole scene has this warm, lived-in feel.
I stood there for a moment looking at this old converted warehouse, waiting for a few cars to pass before lifting the camera up to my eye for a photo.
Noticed the door opening and paused for a second, contemplated if I should wait for the person to step out and walk away before proceeding.
In a split second decision, I made the photo anyway as I felt the person would add an extra element to the image. In this moment where I hesitated whether I should or shouldn't, I failed to notice the courier bike that was about to enter the frame.
I could have taken the photo again, and I did consider this, but after a little thought I decided I quite liked the image as it was, and the way it had perfectly recorded that entire thought process that ran through my mind as I made the photograph.
I very much like brutalist architecture and am instantly drawn to it. I like the mixture of minimalist design, limited colour palette, and bold geometric forms. And I specially like when flora and natural elements blend into the design of the buildings. When I come across structures that mesh characteristics of brutalist design, with the visual beauty of nature, I can’t help but stop to admire it.
Where rust meets rhythm, and vines write their own blueprints. Industrial calm, wrapped in wild green.
A full-frontal view of the roller door to this building, with rusted textures that seems intentionally aged. Warm orange tones streak through horizontal lines like a patina of time. The surrounding building is a minimalist design that feels both modern and assertive in form. Softening that boldness, lush green vines sprawl across the facade, nearly swallowing the roller door’s frame. The juxtaposition between steel and leaf, decay and growth, is sharp yet strangely harmonious.
Next up, I made my way down to Port Melbourne. The vibe shifts a little here, it’s more open and coastal. You’ve got new apartment towers rubbing shoulders with some mid century design buildings, and cute old homes that have been given some serious love over the years.
Here, you can smell the sea and spot container ships in the distance, but at the same time, you’re grabbing coffee from a trendy café, watching someone walk their dog along a tidy street, or jogging along the beach trails. It’s got that strange but cool balance of past and present.
Even the industrial stuff, like the massive port cranes or the echo of the city’s logistic, sort of fade into the background when you’re caught up in the details of a house’s design, or a view across the bay.
I wrapped this walk with a visit to Princes Pier. The famous gate house and the rows of old timber pylons reaching into the water are a commonly photographed feature of Melbourne. They’ve seen world wars, migration waves, quiet moments, and wild weather, and now they just stand there, weathered and poetic.
I covered a lot of ground on this one, but these photo walks aren't really about the step count. They’re about slowing down and noticing things you’d usually miss in a car. The detailed brickwork of an apartment building, or a doorway that tells a story. These walks give me all that.
