The 2009 Transient States exhibition at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery at the University of Western Australia in Perth was curated by Sally Quinn and it presented a range of creative photographic responses to the urban landscape of Perth. Quinn says that the work of the eleven photographers reflects a sustained meditation on place, memory, and collective and individual identity.

One of the photographers in the show was Kevin Ballantine who is on the staff of the School of Communications and Arts at the Edith Cowan University.

February 2012 is the 25th anniversary of Australia and Fremantle losing The America’s Cup, previously heralded as Australia’s greatest sporting triumph. Cup City is a series of black and white photographs picturing the terrain of the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s defense of the international yacht race.

Many of the images work with strong contrasty light and dark shadows. The shadows are almost black and the people on the street are highlighted by the intense urban light. Others, the night shots, are light by flash. The style is a mixture of street photography and new topographics and there's not a yacht to be seen.

Though the pictures appear to be shot with a twin lens Rolleiflex with a flash attached, there is a sense of strangeness in which the familiar becomes unfamiliar.