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September 09, 2007
When I lived in Melbourne I worked on the trams as a conductor and I became very familiar with the Collins and Spencer end of the CBD. I had started taking photographs whilst a conductor and I started attending a photography school top learn the basics in the film and darkroom days of yesteryear. Yesteryear because Melbourne was not then an informational city.
Because I spent so long on the trams each day moving people in and out of the CBD from the suburbs, my mode of visuality changed to that of the moment, the flux of urban life, and the snapshot.I saw the urban world from a moving tram. It was the casual images of crowded streets, everyday scenes and ordinary people, which stood as a direct contrast to the meaningfulness of 'serious' reportage
Gary Sauer-Thompson, cnr Collins + Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, 2007
Today, we have two forms of urbanity: streets and other physical public spaces on the one hand and the publicly accessible electronic networks on the other. Urbanity is about relations.
I also noticed the heritage buildings along Collins Street before they became heritage and often wondered whether good architecture was an indication, or an expression, of urbanity.
Gary Sauer-Thompson, Rialto, Melbourne, 2007
Then I realized that urbanity was about the relationships between people and the way they interacted with one another in public spaces.
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Which is not to say that architecture (good or bad) doesn't have an impact on the way people interact with each other, particularly in a city. I think the small alleys and alcoves of Melbourne invite an urbanity of delight in discovery and the anxiety that comes with that. I love wandering the alleys, finding a great new sculpture, stencil or graf piece and talking to the others who have just experienced the same.
I think the spaces in Melbourne encourage comment, interaction and play. Why else are the small, narrows streets crammed with restaurants and bars, while the broad walkways are reserved for large consumer stores?
The Heritage buildings in Melbourne allow the myth of the 'cultured' city of the 'Arts'.
And I remember when the casino, for its architecture - god forbid, was held to be representative of Melbourne as one of the worlds top modern cities. Now, however, Federation Square provides a much more convincing argument. Perhaps, though, it is possible Federation Square wouldn't have been possible without that desire to see Melbourne as a 'one of the worlds top cities.'