Welcome

Welcome to this page, your gateway to exploring my street photography. Sydney Street Photography, the main page of images, tells how I roam the streets of Sydney, selecting scenes and people to photograph. The images are updated at least twice weekly.

There are also pages reflecting trips I did late last year (2024), to India and Vietnam; and a visit I made to Perth earlier this year (2025).

This page talks about Australian street photography in particular.

What is Street Photography

Street photography sees everyday life in terms of candid moments, done in public spaces. It tries to capture human activity within those places.

Some interpretations will include fashion or portraits set in an urban environment. I do not subscribe to such a view, as I believe it has to be candid.

What Motivates Me

I feel alive when I photograph the streetscape. I'm an observer, a voyeur. I select which parts of the street I want to depict: photography is about choosing what is included in the frame, and what is not.

But more than that... how the elements are placed; the aperture and its effect on focus and depth of field; and the shutter speed and its impact relative to time and motion.

Predict the photo by imagining it

You didn’t come this far to stop

One of the cities perched on the eastern seaboard of Australia is Sydney, clinging as if to its skirt. It has, without doubt, much to be said for it. There are the icons, of course: Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and its beaches.

But Australian street photography knows more than Sydney. It knows Melbourne, similar in size, Brisbane with a warm, subtropical climate. Perth, Adelaide and Darwin will vie for your attention as well.

Melbourne has a vibrant food scene, notably in the CBD, Fitzroy and Carlton. These provide interesting street photography locales with a recognisably Australian atmosphere. If you're into street art (graffiti), Melbourne is well known for it, and its lanes offer engaging settings.

If you're looking for a city smaller than Sydney and Melbourne, head for Brisbane or perhaps you are visiting there anyway. Because it's smaller, it doesn't have the breadth of street photography options - but it might still be worth a visit.

Adelaide's draw card is its sedateness, though some people consider it boring.

Q Why did you take up street photography?

A. I had been drifting into it for a year or so. It seems to agree with my enquiring mind, one which is interested in the human psyche. It's also so convenient for my lifestyle.

Q When is your favourite time of day for Sydney street photography?

A I'm a morning person...I'm up early and have more energy at that time. Also, the air is clearer. However, lately I’ve been out in the CBD at lunchtime when it’s hectic.

Q What is the hardest thing about what you do?

A Believe it or not, it's taking close-up photos. I'm naturally a shy person, though it varies as my mood changes. 

Q Who are some of your favourite street photographers?

A Henri Cartier-Bresson, Jonathan Jasberg, Manuel Ortiz, Vivian Maier, Saul Leiter, Trent Parke.

Q What are your settings for the triangle?

A I set all three controls manually (Aperture, Shutter speed, ISO). This sometimes means my photo is way over- or underexposed, but as I shoot RAW I can usually recover from this in post processing.

FAQs

Who are These Australian Street Photographers?

Jesse Marlow

Jesse Marlow is a Melbourne based photographer and his works are held in public and private collections across Australia, including the National Gallery of Victoria; Australian Parliament House, Canberra, Monash Gallery of Art, City of Melbourne, and State Library of Victoria.

Marlow says he was first inspired to make street photography at age eight by the book Subway Art (1984), which documents the early history of New York City's graffiti movement. He subsequently documented graffiti in Melbourne during school holidays and continued to photograph graffiti for ten years. Marlow says he was primarily inspired at college by the work of photographers Robert Frank, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Alex Webb. More recently, Marlow was motivated by architecture and design, and the Australian painters Jeffrey Smart and Howard Arkley.

Photo by Jesse Marlow

Photo by Jesse Marlow

Julia Coddington

Julia’s work has been exhibited overseas and she has been a finalist in international street photography competitions. She has exhibited her work in Australia and internationally and has been featured in street photography magazines and interviewed on several photography podcasts.

Julia says "Street photography for me is like an addiction. And with any addiction there are highs and lows. It is also about inserting yourself into a situation and becoming invisible. Observing people, their interactions, shapes, movement, colours, light and shadows. It’s about ‘seeing’ these things and capturing them. What I love most is to lose myself in my invisibility and meld into the scene. It’s almost a fugue-like state, like I’m not there, or like a fly on the wall, or wearing an invisibility cloak. And this state is what fuels the addiction."

Photo by Julia Coddington

Photo by Julia Coddington

Trent Parke

Trent was born in 1971 and raised in Newcastle, north of Sydney, Australia. Using his mother’s Pentax Spotmatic and the family laundry as a darkroom, he started taking photos when he was about 12 years old. He began his career as a press photojournalist and, in 2007, became the first Australian to become a full member of Magnum Photos.

Magnum states that "Parke is one of the most innovative photographers of his generation. He is known for his poetic, often darkly humorous photography which offers an emotional and psychological portrait of his home country of Australia. Though rooted in documentary, his works sit between fiction and reality, exploring themes of identity, place and family life."

Photo by Trent Parke

Photo by Trent Parke

A Brief About Photography

There are three elements involved in achieving the correct photograph exposure. These are:

1. ISO. This is the overall brightness within an image, measured numerically. For example, 200-400 is considered a normal ISO while 1600 is high (1600 is four times brighter than 400).

2. Aperture. This is measured in f-stops. A lens with an aperture range of f/2.8 - f/22 means it can open as wide as f/2.8 (letting in the most light) or close down to f/22 (letting in the least light).

Unique to photography, aperture affects the depth of field, meaning the distance range within a scene that appears sharp in a photo. A wider aperture creates a shallower depth of field (limited sharpness) while a smaller aperture creates a larger depth of field (greater sharpness).

3. Shutter speed. The speed at which the shutter opens and closes, measured between perhaps 30 seconds (depending on the camera) and 1/8000 of a second.

Reciprocity

This says that when an element is changed (changing the light exposure) using shutter speed, aperture or ISO, a reciprocal movement can be made in the other elements. For example, if you increase your aperture (letting in more light), you can increase your shutter speed (exposing the sensor for less time) to maintain the same exposure. Similarly, if you increase your ISO, you can use a smaller aperture or faster shutter speed.