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

Melbourn Candid Series #1218 De Graves St

 

Two young blokes off Degraves Street,
where shadows curl and sunlight meet
one wears his shades upon his hair,
the other’s brim cuts morning air.

Their laughter drifts through coffee steam,
the lane alive, a waking dream;
tram bells sigh beyond the stone,
yet here they make the world their own.

So light their talk, so bright their ease,
the city hums in minor keys;
youth’s brief fire, unbound, complete
two young blokes off Degraves Street.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 972

Melbourne Candid Series #1215 Swanston St

 

Bare-chested beneath the awning’s shade,
he sits with his guitar, half in dream—
the strings sigh softly, a golden seam
stitched through the city’s passing parade.

Rain-slick pavement mirrors light,
trams glide by in a silver blur;
his voice, low ember, seems to stir
the air between the day and night.

People pass—umbrellas bloom,
phones glow pale in drifting hands;
yet still he plays, as though he stands
in some cathedral made of gloom.

Unnoticed saint of Swanston Street,
his song spills warm where cold winds meet.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check Out Candid 969

Melbourne Candid Series #1214 Centre Place

 

A sign reads shops,
letters simple, pointing nowhere
and everywhere.

Beneath it,
three men in baseball caps
move down the narrow corridor,
their footsteps a rhythm
on stone that remembers
a thousand mornings.

Shadows bend along the walls,
lanterns blink,
the lane breathes with coffee and rain,
while the word shops
hangs above them,
a small command,
a promise of doors opening
into the heart of Melbourne.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 968

Melbourne Candid Series #1212 Centre Place

 

A misted late morning,
lanes breathe with coffee steam,
shoes scuff cobblestones,
voices fold into the narrow air.

She stands in a sports bra,
light striking her shoulders,
beside him—
a man with a T-shirt,
slurpee in hand,
both gazing outward.

Crowds press past windows,
shops hum with colour and clatter,
and for a moment
they are still,
two figures
watching the current
of Melbourne flow around them.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 966

Melbourne Candid Series #1208 Centre Place

 

One man with two fair ladies near,
They linger where the scents appear.
At Centre Place the shadows fall,
Yet coffee’s warmth unites them all.

The narrow lane with echoes sings,
Of whispered talk and clinking rings.
Three souls await the barista’s art,
A brew to stir both tongue and heart.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 962

Melbourne Candid Series #1207 De Graves St

 

One elder sat with shaded eyes,
His gaze bent low where the bright screen lies.
A message flickered, silent, small,
Yet seemed to hold his world in thrall.

An Asian man with a brim so wide,
Peered through the café’s glowing side.
From Degraves Street, the moments blend,
Where strangers meet and pathways bend.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Candid 961

Melbourne Candid Series #1204 Little Flinders Lane

 

On Little Flinders, narrow, bright,
The lane is stirred with life and light.
Young voices rise, with laughter proud,
They blend among the bustling crowd.

Adults wander, side by side,
Through cafés warm and shops that hide.
Together weaving, slow or spry,
Beneath the city’s watchful sky.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 959

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 #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 #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 #1166 Exhibition St

 

Off Exhibition, the city’s hum,
Where lights command and footsteps drum.
A man in shades, like silver screen,
Stands with his boy, a tender scene.

They wait for green, the crossing’s call,
The child’s small hand enclosed in all.
Beside them stands, with comic air,
A hat askew, a traveller there.

He tugs his strap, adjusts his load,
A wanderer upon the road.
Two moments caught, yet worlds apart—
The star, the fool, both play their part.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 921

Melbourne Candid Series #1146 Bourke St Mall

 

Off Bourke Street’s curve in silver light,
A man on wheels begins his flight
Helmeted, silent, e-bike hum,
A shadow in the city’s thrum.

Behind, beneath a brooding sky,
A woman dressed in black walks by.
Her hat, a moon of quiet grace,
No rush, no fear upon her face.

She holds a hand, a boy’s small frame,
His steps unsure, yet not the same
For anchored firm in her still pace,
He walks the world with gentle grace.

Monochrome moments, soft and wide,
Lives in motion, paths that glide.
No words exchanged, yet somehow known
Each stranger walking not alone.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 900

Melbourne Candid Series #1145 Collins Arcade

 

In Collins Arcade where echoes hum,
A hush beneath the city's drum,
Two pairs of women, side by side,
In monochrome where time won't glide.

Porcelain cups in slender hands,
Their words like soft, unspoken bands,
The steam ascends in gentle swirls,
Like secrets traded between girls.

Their laughter dances, light and low,
A thread of silk in morning's flow,
Melbourne’s heart, though far from home,
Beats gently where these voices roam.

No grand parade, no trumpet sound,
Yet in this stillness, strength is found
In every sip, each knowing glance,
An old world weaves into the dance.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 899

Melbourne Candid Series #1126 Hosier Lane

 

In Hosier Lane where shadows dwell,
And cobbled streets their secrets tell,
A man and woman paused their stride
To gaze into the sky wide-eyed.

Graffiti flared on every wall,
Yet they saw past the painted sprawl—
Not colours bold or rebel scrawl,
But something vast beyond it all.

Their heads were tilted, side by side,
Their breath a mist the cold supplied.
In black and white the moment stayed,
Two figures caught in light and shade.

What did they seek above the stone?
A passing bird, a world unknown?
The clouds perhaps, or trailing plane,
Or simply wonder, pure, unfeigned.

No words were said, no need to speak,
The silent sky was wide and bleak.
But in that hush, as time slipped by,
They touched the edge of winter’s sky.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 881

Melbourne Candid Series #1116 Latrobe St

 

A woman, smuck smile playing coy,
Threads the night on Latrobe’s ploy,
Beneath the argent veil of gloom,
She weaves through shadows, soft as bloom.

Her presence—ghostly chiaroscuro—
Etched in black and white’s soft furrow,
A fleeting waltz of light and shade,
Where time itself seems dimly swayed.

Behind her, silent, stilled in breath,
A man absorbs the night’s bequeath—
That sly curl, that knowing gleam,
A whispered riddle, half a dream.

On Melbourne’s street where darkness sighs,
She moves—a secret in his eyes.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 872

Melbourne Candid Series #1084 Swanston St

 

A young woman drifts through the noon-lit stream,
Eyes aglow with a digital dream.
Her fingers dance on a glowing screen,
Unaware of the city's breathing scene.

A slender man with a luxury sway,
Carries brands like banners on display.
His coat is tailored, his pace refined,
Chasing desire by design.

An old man walks with eyes set far,
Past trams and shops and the coffee bar.
He sees the street as it used to be—
Before it buzzed with screens and spree.

The footpath hums beneath their feet,
Time unfolding on Swanston Street.
Past and present softly blend—
Strangers passing, end to end.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 840

Melbourne Candid Series #1081 Presgraves Place

 

Two men walk side by side with grace,
Their steps in sync on Presgrave Place.
A quiet lane, a pause in time,
Where stone beneath recalls old rhyme.

Beside them hums a coffee stand,
Its sign hangs low by weathered hand.
The scent of beans, the hiss of steam,
Drifts gently through a midday dream.

The pavement holds a classic tone,
Each slab a tale, each crack well known.
Their shadows stretch, then slip away,
As if the past walks on today.

No crowd, no rush, just muted sound,
In this small place where peace is found.
A hidden thread in city’s lace—
Two men, one street, one quiet pace.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 837

Melbourne Candid Series #1078 Flinders Station

 

Flinders Station, shades of grey,
Whispers stories worn away.
Stone and shadow, time stands tall,
Echoes move where footfalls fall.

A young man crosses, sleek and fast,
In monochrome, his moment passed.
Jacket crisp, his gaze ahead,
In silent film, where words are shed.

Past and present, black and white,
Merge and blur in morning light.

Sony A7RV

FE 35mm f1.4 GM

Check out Candid 834

Melbourne Candid Series #1074 Flinders St

 

He strides in suit with purpose bold,
A voice like brass in morning cold;
His words fly fast, a streaming train,
Across the street, through wind and rain.

In Flinders' shadow, trams glide past,
The crossing blinks, the moment lasts;
An Aussie leans, with coffee slow,
Unbothered by the urgent show.

A tradesman laughs, a banker sips,
As sunlight curls on city lips;
The rush of one, the calm of rest—
Each walking in the way they’re dressed.

So Melbourne hums, both loud and still,
A patchwork bound by common will.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Candid 830 and FACE OFF