People are finally returning to the CBD for work and companies like Sportsbet are making it worth their while. Designed by Hot Black and built by Plan Group, their new Melbourne office is a vibrant and colourful place to spend time.
Melbourne
Nostalgia for a high school job
Back in high school, in Sydney, I worked for several years at the Hoyts Cinemas in Chatswood. I loved that job. It provided me with more or less free access to the movies of the time. Not a bad perk for a teenager that loved going to the movies. You can imagine then, the kick I got out of shooting the new home of Val Morgan, the advertising arm of Hoyts, last year. Another fabulous workplace by the clever folks at Amicus and Hot Black.
False Warmth, 2019
A few people have asked me lately where they can see the fine art series that I’ve made over the past few years. I thought I’d share some here. This series is False Warmth, which I made in 2019 over many cold winters nights in inner city Melbourne. Before Covid was a thing…
Personality facades. The masks people wear; the inauthentic versions of themselves they present to the world to hide anxieties, depressions and traumas.
Often these masks are developed in early years to protect from feelings of inadequacy, weakness or insecurity and are carried through into adulthood.
At night, when returning home, they take off their masks. Sometimes this brings relief and sometimes it makes space for the anguish and despair to rise. The safety of home can bring comfort from a cold world but it can also bring a deeper isolation, a false warmth.
No Left Turn - False Warmth, 2019
Lace - False Warmth, 2019
Through The Cracks - False Warmth, 2019
Post Box Corner - False Warmth, 2019
The Adjacent - False Warmth, 2019
Towing Service - False Warmth, 2019
Freeway home - False Warmth, 2019
Riots - False Warmth, 2019
Skeletons - False Warmth, 2019
Shamrock Store- False Warmth, 2019
Cutouts - False Warmth, 2019
Theresaville - False Warmth, 2019
Leaving - False Warmth, 2019
A lockdown announcement, some handmade furniture and a mural
This shoot will always be memorable thanks to the announcement, halfway through, of the final (hopefully) Melbourne lockdown in July, 2021. The shoot, for furniture maker Damian Harpantidis of Harp Industries, was to capture his craft in situ, in his client’s Essendon home. The mural, which sits along side his beautifully crafted pieces was also impressive and memorable!
South Melbourne Workspace by Hot Black and Amicus Spaces
One upside of covid (you have to find them or else…) is it allows the space to share more work here on my journal. Moving away from residential and into a workspace in South Melbourne. This one is a long way from some of the offices I worked in back in the day. Architecture by Hot Black, built by Amicus Spaces with furniture from howgroup. I’d stick around for Friday drinks on that balcony!
Caulfield Penthouse by Sara Levitas Design
There are two things that always occur to me at some stage before, during or after a residential shoot. The first one is how honoured I feel that my clients entrust the documentation of their work to me. The second, how privileged I am that their clients open their homes to me and allow me to capture their private worlds. Within these homes I get to see and experience a broad spectrum of cultures and styles and their art, furniture and objects, gathered locally or from places abroad.
This Caulfield penthouse was no exception. An eclectic mix of art and objects collected over years and places. Shot between one lockdown or another, Sara Levitas Design has worked with her clients to create in her words “a truly authentic and beautiful expression of themselves in their home”.
What a wonderful thing to be a part of!
Clifton Hill House by Meredith Lee Interior Design.
Still playing catch up with Meredith Lee - another beautiful, pre-covid project in Clifton Hill shot just last month. It’s light and airy, yet warm, textural and homely. I could happily rest here and gaze out on the lush green courtyard and garden spaces that surround it. Styling and design by Meredith Lee Interior Design.
Off-form concrete in Geelong by Michael Carr Architects
If you’re familiar with me or my work, you’ll know how much good concrete makes my eyes light up and my heart sing. It’s a tad sad, I realise. Imagine my delight when I arrived on site in Geelong to see this stunning use of off-form concrete by Michael Carr and his team! Adding to the delight, well established landscaping and considered interiors, this project was a pleasure to shoot over a couple of all weather days - with a considerable covid interlude between them.
Architecture, Interiors & Styling: Michael Carr Architects
Landscape Design: Stephen Read Landscape Design
Build: Surfview Builders
