Melbourne Candid Series #1194 De Graves St

 

Faceless man, footie scarf tight,
slides past tables, morning bright.
Crowds murmur, cups clink, plates scrape,
he threads the chatter, a quiet escape.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 949

Melbourne Candid Series #1193 De Graves St

 

Two figures blaze in the sun,
bare arms, swift steps,
their dresses cut sharp against the light.

On the left,
the shaded tables hold their hush—
diners folded into shadow,
whispers curling like steam from cups.

Between them
a line divides the world:
light that exposes,
dark that conceals.

And the lane,
forever narrow,
swallows both.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Melbourne Candid Series #1192 Little Collins St

 

A father bends,
hands fumbling in the bag,
searching for a small delight—
a toy, a sweet, a promise of care.

Beside him,
his daughter waits,
eyes wide as if the world
were stitched from his pockets.

Across the street,
a current of strangers flows—
heels striking, bicycles leaning,
faces turned toward their own errands.

Yet in the noise,
this quiet gesture blooms:
love measured not in grandeur,
but in the reach of a father’s hand.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 947

Melbourne Candid Series #1191 Little Collins St

 

A man and his giant shadow of fur,
stride steady through the narrow street.
The dog’s paws echo like soft drums,
marking time against the city’s hum.

Bicycles lean,
cars gleam,
but it is the quiet bond between walker and beast
that bends the lane into rhythm.

People pass,
signs blur,
yet in this moment—
the city belongs to two companions,
carving their way through Melbourne’s breath.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 946

Melbourne Candid Series #1190 Little Flinders Lane

 

Graffiti clings
to silver walls,
an alphabet of passing hands.

Shadows break
shoes cross the street,
each step a fragment of the city’s hum.

Packets of colour
glimmer in glass,
quiet offerings to hungry eyes.

And through it all,
the lane exhales
a rhythm stitched of strangers.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 945

Melbourne Candid Series #1189 De Graves St

 

In the narrow vein of the city’s heart,
laughter spills where cobblestones part,
a chorus of cups, steam rising high,
conversations tangled with the sky.

Shadows lean from weathered brick,
signs hum low in a language slick,
ink of strangers, stories shared,
threads of a laneway carefully spared.

Faces glow in the softened crowd,
young voices weaving bright and loud,
the air is stitched with roasted beans,
and fragments of half-forgotten dreams.

Here, time is tender, quietly bold
a mosaic of lives in silver and gold,
and each small step upon these stones
makes the city breathe through borrowed tones.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 944

Melbourne Candid Series 1188 De Graves St

 

In monochrome the scene is cast,
A fleeting moment, caught and fast.
A chap emerges, slow in pace,
Contentment written on his face.

From pasta’s den he takes his leave,
His belly round, his heart relieved.
The alley hums, the shadows play,
De Graves holds stories night and day.

His step is heavy, yet it shows,
The simple joy a good meal sows.
A quiet frame, a fleeting art,
Of fullness carried in the heart.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 943

Melbourne Candid Series #1187 De Graves St

 

A waiter stands in footie pride,
With “AFL” across his side.
He casts a glance, a knowing sign,
To draw me in, to sit, to dine.

Off De Graves Street, lanes awake,
With clatter, chatter, scents to take.
His eyes invite, his smile implores,
To step within through open doors.

I hold my lens, the street’s my frame,
Yet feel the tug of his small game.
Between the shutter and the seat,
Temptation lingers in the street.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 942

Melbourne Candid Series #1186 De Grave St

 

A cameraman stands, his gaze held still,
Upon the wall where chalk lines fill.
Behind the bar, the barista waits,
While words of coffee mark the slates.

Espresso, latte, mocha, chai,
Each name like clouds that wander by.
His lens at rest, his mind now stirred,
By every drink, each painted word.

The hum of cups, the hiss of steam,
Blend softly with his quiet dream.
For once, no frame, no rushing view
Just choices warm, and rich, and new.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 941

Melbourne Candid Series #1185 De Graves St

 

On De Graves Street, a restless tide,
A young man walks with hopeful stride.
His gaze pursues a fleeting flame,
A lady bold, with beauty’s claim.

Her dress is light, the hemline high,
It dances free with passing sky.
Her legs, unveiled, the crowd admire,
She moves as though the stones inspire.

He follows close with easy air,
In casual clothes, without much care.
But every step betrays his aim—
To catch her glance, to spark a flame.

The city hums, the moment brief,
Desire laced with shy belief.
On cobbled lane where strangers meet,
A silent play unfolds the street.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 940 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1184 De Graves St

 

On De Graves Street,
he leans forward,
mouth wide with laughter or hunger,
taking a great bite
of whatever joy the plate has given.

Beside him, his partner watches—
a soft echo in her eyes,
the kind that belongs
to the ease of shared meals.

Around them the façade glows,
lanterns and shadows woven close,
the laneway humming
with its vibey grace,
as if the walls themselves
were tasting life
through their laughter.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 939

Melbourne Candid Series #1183 De Graves St

 

Off De Graves Street,
beneath the laneway’s hush,
a father leans into a table’s comfort,
cap tilted,
tattoo ink coiled upon his leg
like a memory written in skin.

Two boys beside him,
bright in their footy shirts,
shoulders knocking in the smallness of youth,
eyes wide with the ordinary feast.

Plates clatter,
the city breathes around them,
but here
in this narrow corner of Melbourne
a family meal becomes
its own quiet monument.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 938

Melbourne Candid Series #1182 De Graves St

 

On De Graves Street,
he settles into the chair’s embrace,
a small table before him
like an island of pause
amid the city’s restless tide.

Shorts bare his knees to the morning air,
yet the photograph permits no season
only the hush of black and white,
where his coffee steams invisibly,
a secret warmth the lens refuses.

Here he leans,
cup lifted in quiet ritual,
as though the whole lane
were distilled to this moment:
a man, a table,
and time poured slowly
into porcelain.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 937

Melbourne Candid Series #1181Swanston St

 

The sushi shop is closed,
its doors drawn in silence,
though only yesterday
the place was alive with voices
and the scent of rice and sea.

I did not expect its absence,
for it was well loved,
a small refuge on Swanston
where many found their share of comfort.

Two young girls paused before it,
hopeful, then uncertain,
their search for a simple meal
redirected into the city’s restless night.

So it is with such places
they flourish, they fade,
leaving only the memory
of quiet tables,
and familiar flavours gone.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 936

Melbourne Candid Series #1180 Collins St

 

Down Collins Street he strode,
beard bristling in the city’s glow,
both hands laden with goods,
each step a wide unhurried claim
upon the pavement’s grey expanse.

Great earphones crowned his head,
a private orchestra unheard by all,
yet his stride kept perfect time,
a rhythm only he could hear,
a march through Melbourne’s bustle.

Shoppers glanced, the trams rolled on,
but he—self-contained, unfaltering
carried his burdens like trophies,
a solitary figure,
moving to music of his own.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 935

Melbourne Candid Series #1179 Collins Arcade

 

Inside Collins Arcade they stand,
A small family, hand in hand.
Father points with careful grace,
At a restaurant’s digital face.

Eyes alight with plans to dine,
Together tracing each line.
Warmth of shared, unspoken cheer,
Moments simple, yet sincere.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 934

Melbourne Candid Series #1178 De Graves St

 

Four young men in sunlight’s glow,
Chairs set out in a gentle row,
Laughter drifts on the street’s soft hum,
Coffee warms where their voices come.

Sidewalk buzzes, world moves by,
Yet here they sit beneath the sky,
Moments caught in a fleeting scene,
Simple, bright, and quietly keen.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm 1.8 GM

Check out Candid 933

Melbourne Candid Series #1177 De Graves St

 

Amid the hum of De Graves Street,
A young chap lets his eyes retreat,
Footsteps drum in rhythmic flow,
Yet stillness blooms where he lets go.

Faces blur and voices rise,
He finds a calm beneath the skies,
In the crowded pulse of day’s parade,
A quiet pause, unafraid.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check Candid 932

Melbourne Candid Series #1176 De Graves St

 

In a pasta house off DeGraves’ way,
I pause to watch the diners stay;
They line the glass, a living show,
As if on stage for all to know.

Forks lift slow in the window’s frame,
Their laughter soft, their gestures same;
And I, outside, can scarce convey
Why they delight in such display.

Do they not feel the watcher’s eyes,
The passing crowd, the small surmise?
Or is it joy—to see, be seen—
A theatre made of glass between?

Sony A7RV

FE 14mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 931 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1175 De Graves St

 

Along DeGrave Street the sunlight falls,
A sharp, unyielding blade on walls;
It cuts the air, it paints the ground,
And drives long shadows all around.

Pedestrians drift through molten glare,
Their faces lit, half-gold, half-bare;
Each step becomes a fleeting sign
Of light’s command, of day’s design.

The city breathes in heat and flame,
Yet still the narrow lane remains—
A passage where the sun declares
Its rule upon the lives it glares.

Sony A7RV

FE 24mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 930

Melbourne Candid Series #1174 Flinders St

 

Beneath the stone of Flinders Street,
An old man moves on steady feet,
A paper map held firm, yet frail,
As if to chart a vanished trail.

Beside him walks a boy of youth,
His grin bright, his step uncouth,
A sun-glass crown upon his hair,
A careless halo, light as air.

Two figures bound by time’s design,
One tracing roads, one yet to find,
Together in the city’s hum
The past and future walk as one.

Sony A7RV

35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 929