Melbourne Candid Series #1263 Flagstaff Garden

 

Two men beneath matching caps,
T-shirts blazing a Brazilian logo,
stand anchored in the Saturday hum
of Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne.

One is bent to the grill,
cutting meat with a craftsman’s calm
smoke curling around him
like a quiet anthem
lifted from far-off shores.

The other,
sunglasses dark as river stone,
faces my lens without flinching
a held breath of curiosity,
or challenge,
or just the stillness
between sizzle and song.

Around them the garden thrums:
kids running, parrots chattering,
wind brushing the old trees awake.

And in the middle of it all,
two men in the same hat and shirt
briefly become a scene
a small, vivid stitch
in Flagstaff’s wandering tapestry.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1019

Melbourne Candid Series #1262 Flagstaff Garden

 

Two lady performers,
floral loops crowning their hair
like dawn-warmed garlands,
let the last notes of their music
settle into the soft lawns
of Flagstaff Garden.

They lean toward their support staff,
quiet laughter blooming
between them like late-spring petals,
their words drifting in the air
where melodies once lived.

The garden listens
trees tilting in approval,
pigeons pausing mid-step
as the performers, unmasked from the stage,
become simply two friends
gathering themselves
after giving their hearts to the day.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1018

Melbourne Candid Series #1261 Flagstaff Garden

 

Two lady performers
floral loops crowning their hair
like small, deliberate blossoms
stand before twin microphones
in the green hush of Flagstaff Garden.

The guitarist begins first:
fingers like soft rain on warm timber,
each chord a slow unfurling
of late-afternoon gold.

Beside her, the violinist lifts her bow
as though summoning a dawn,
and from the strings bloom tones
so tremulous, so fine,
they seem spun from the breath
between wind and dreaming.

Their voices rise
two petals carried on the same breeze
braiding through guitar warmth
and violin shimmer,
floating over the lawn
like a blessing that knows no name.

For a moment, time leans in,
listening.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1017 FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1260 Flagstaff Garden

 

An Indian chap in a weathered cap
stands behind his hawker stall
at Flagstaff Garden
a small kingdom of smoke and sizzle
claimed for the evening.

He brushes sauces onto skewers
with the precision of habit,
lacquered reds and browns
catching the flare of the grill.

No ritual of sharing here
just trade,
just hunger meeting craft,
just the quiet exchange
of money for flavour,
the brief transaction
between a vendor and the passing world,
each skewer handed over
like a moment that never lingers.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1016

Melbourne Candid Series #1259 Flagstaff Garden

 

A young woman in dark sunglasses
leans toward a waiting skewer,
the sun catching on the metal,
on her smile half-hidden.

Behind her, the Mexican mural
spills its colour across the food truck
chilies, saints, and swirling blossoms
a feast painted before the feast.

She lifts the skewer,
a small moment in a busy day,
yet framed by all that colour
it becomes its own bright story.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1015

Melbourne Candid Series #1258 Flagstaff Garden

 

Two vendors at the Mexican stall
leaned close in quiet debate,
their words rising like warm spice
into the afternoon air.

Behind them, in the soft green hush
of Flagstaff Garden,
two women—one young, one weathered by years
turned toward my waiting lens.

The younger with curiosity,
the elder with knowing calm—
as if they had long understood
that every moment, once seen,
becomes a story.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1014

Melbourne Candid Series #1257 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff Garden’s tempered light,
a man prepares his borrowed face
fine strokes of crimson, coal, and white,
a quiet ritual in the open space.

Brush whispers over skin like breath,
each line a memory, each curve a vow;
the living paying homage to death,
the ancient blooming through him now.

Around him, Melbourne hums its day,
trams singing past in their iron tune,
yet here he stands in calm display,
a blossom painted for the moon.

For Mexico’s bright festival,
he dons the mask of joy and sorrow
a face that says the past is full,
and we must greet it come tomorrow.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1013

Melbourne Candid Series #1236 Albert Park Lakeside Drive

 

Cold, chilly morning
mist curls over Albert Park Lake,
the water a silver hush,
breath rising like fragile smoke.

A young man walks the path,
scarf looped close,
hands deep in woollen pockets,
shoulders braced against the bite.

Leaves whisper underfoot,
each step a soft echo
in the quiet city’s wake.

The swans drift, serene and slow
he pauses,
watching the ripples widen,
thinking how even the cold
has its calm beauty.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 992

Melbourne Candid Series #1223 Collins Arcade

 

In the hush of Collins Arcade,
where marble echoes cradle each footfall,
an Asian woman bends slightly forward,
black-rimmed glasses glinting
like a poet’s pause between lines.

She listens — not merely with the ear
but with the whole gravity of her being,
as if the customer’s halting words
were a fragile bird she dared not startle.

Light pools on her sleeve,
the scent of roasted beans and rain-damp stone
folds into the moment 
and the city, briefly, forgets its noise.

In her attentive stillness
there is something luminous,
the quiet art of presence 
a listening so complete
it becomes its own kind of grace.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 977

Melbourne Candid Series #1222 Elizabeth St

 

Off Elizabeth Street, the air hums with noon 
trams rattle, pigeons scatter crumbs.
A man stands easy, jumper looped around his neck,
glasses glinting like a second sun.

He props one foot upon the bench,
beside a quiet patron lost in thought,
their worlds just inches apart 
one resting, one mid-motion.

The city flows around them 
coffee scent, sirens, street chatter 
and for a breath,
the scene becomes a sketch of Melbourne:
casual, alive,
where strangers share a bench
and time forgets to hurry.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 976

Melbourne Candid Series #1221 De Graves St

 

A wicked smile flickers 
he wipes his lips with the back of his hand,
crumbs falling like careless words.
The mullet catches light,
a halo of defiance
under the café’s striped awning.

He leans back in his chair,
street laughter spilling past,
steam rising from cups and grates alike.
There’s swagger in his stillness,
a kind of rough poetry
in the way he owns the moment 
De Graves Street watching,
and he, unbothered,
watching it back.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 975 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1220 De Graves St

 

De Graves Street hums its midday tune 
cups clink, trams sigh somewhere near.
A woman in sunglasses leans by the café wall,
sunlight glinting on her hair.

She lifts a sandwich, slow and certain,
each bite a small rebellion
against the rush of office hours,
against the turning world.

Around her, footsteps weave and scatter,
voices blur like jazz in the lane,
but she is still —
a quiet rhythm in the city’s heart,
chewing, tasting,
letting Melbourne move around her.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 974

Melbourne Candid Series #1200 Little Collins St

 

In Little Collins Street, he hides,
Shadowed by brick and whispered tides.
Earbuds hum a private stream,
A world inside, a hidden dream.

Footsteps echo, brisk and small,
Neon flickers against the wall.
A melody or talk drifts near,
Only he can catch, only he can hear.

Smoke of the city curls around,
Steel and glass, a distant sound.
Alley folds him like a secret note,
Music or podcast, on him it floats.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8

Check out Candid 955

Melbourne Candid Series #1199 Centre place

 

A blur of movement,
the city hums around him.
One man holds his lunch,
head turned right,
glasses catching the light
a brief defiance of haste.

Behind, a young chap
lifts his lens to the air,
framing what the crowd forgets.
Centre Place breathes,
a laneway of fleeting stories,
each glance a poem
half-written in passing.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 954 and FACE OFF

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 #1133 Elizabeth St

 

A flash of lycra, vivid, tight,
A helmet gleams in morning light.
Down Elizabeth, swift and free,
A biker blurs like poetry.

The city hums, the pavement sings,
Wheels spin dreams on fleeting wings.
Steel and flesh in motion blend—
A rush, a roar, the street’s own friend.

Between the buildings tall and gray,
The cyclist carves a fleeting way.
With every pedal, swift and sure,
The pulse of Melbourne rides secure.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 887

Melbourne Candid Series 1132 Bourke St Mall

 

Laughter on Bourke

He sat in sun, a man of years,
With laughter loud that chased the fears,
In sunglasses, his joy a flare
That split the noon with blazing care.

Beside him, quiet, his small young son,
A shadow short beneath the sun,
Looked up as if to catch the fire
That lit his father's brief desire.

The street around, a surging tide,
With trams and heels and time's long stride,
Yet in that pause the world stood still—
Just sun and blood, and love’s goodwill.

A city’s heart beat all around,
But sweeter was that human sound:
A father's laugh, deep-cut and real,
That spoke what mouths can’t always feel.

On Bourke they sat, mid noon’s wide sprawl,
Two lives adrift, yet held by all—
By sunlight, kinship, breath, and grace,
And joy that time cannot erase.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 886 This has been one of the top 10 favorite posted on my blog here