Melbourne Candid Series #1231 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff’s hush of passing days,
He moves mid-step, half flesh, half sign,
A skull drawn light upon his face,
Death borrowing a mortal line.

A crown of blooms, a lifted phone,
The living world still calls him near;
Between the laugh, the bone, the tone,
He walks where joy and ending peer.

So gardens keep what crowds forget:
That life, well held, is brief, complete
A dance inked once, not finished yet,
Then gone, like footprints in the street.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Candid 1077

Melbourne Candid Series #1223 Flagstaff Garden

 

Beneath Flagstaff’s plane trees, in a borrowed age,
They move like echoes freed from stone and page.
Feathers crown the brow, bone-white masks declare
The dance of life with death entwined in air.

Drums speak softly where the grass is worn,
Old worlds awaken in the Melbourne morn.
Between the paths, where past and present meet,
Ritual breathes again on urban feet.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1069

Melbourne Candid Series #1213 Flagstaff Garden

 

Within Flagstaff’s green, where ancient echoes stir,
Three women turn in measured, sacred grace;
Their regalia blooms with rhythm, thread, and fur,
Each step a vow time cannot quite erase.

They dance the rite of sun and seasoned ground,
Of maize and wind, of promise dearly kept;
The earth remembers every lifted sound,
Each heel that strikes where ancestors once stepped.

Beside them moves a lone and painted man,
His face in white, a mask of dread and lore;
Eyes dark as night that watches over clan,
A guardian shaped by fear and mythic war.

Not terror, but the threshold he declares
Between the living pulse and spirit’s claim;
His steps command the air, the crowd, the stares,
And teach that awe and reverence are the same.

So in that garden, far from native land,
Old worlds arose at drumbeat’s urgent plea;
Through flesh and cloth and stamp of human hand,
The past stood up and danced itself still free.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1060

Melbourne Candid Series #1208 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff’s green, she stands in sacred guise,
With relics clasped and eyelids gently drawn;
Her whispered chant ascends the open skies
As measured steps awake the ancient dawn.

Through turning limbs and breath in rhythm bound,
The earth remembers truths too old for speech;
In dance and prayer, the lost are gently found,
And silence learns the language hearts can teach.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1055

Melbourne Candid Series #1295 Flagstaff Garden

 

Beneath the white pavilion’s quiet span,
They stand aligned, their faces turned away,
With shoulders set as ancient rhythms ran
Through stone and fire at break of ritual day.

A crown of feathers breaks the muted air,
Dark plumes like rays from some forgotten sun;
Each quill a memory worn with solemn care,
Of empires lost, yet never truly done.

The metal glints upon the woven breast,
Cold silver shaped by hands that knew the gods;
It bears the weight of oath, of trial, of test,
Of earth once fed by blood and marked by rods.

They do not speak. Their silence holds command.
The past stands breathing in their measured pose.
Time bends, obedient to their stance and hand,
As history in living motion flows.

O watcher, learn what stillness dares to teach:
That roots run deep where footsteps touch the ground;
What ages take away, the body keeps
In dance, the lost are found, the dead resound.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1052

Melbourne Candid Series #1293 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne,
on grass worn smooth by time and feet,
the dancer breaks the afternoon open.

Feathers arc from the crown
long, banded quills flung wide,
as if the wind itself were harnessed
and taught to keep formation.
Painted bone and hollowed eyes
fix the face in ritual calm,
death not as ending,
but as pattern and return.

An arm cuts forward, firm and exact,
the rattle clenched like a held heartbeat.
Metal plates flash across the chest,
each piece catching light,
each sound answering movement.
The body bends, advances, commands space
a geometry of step and stamp,
ancient in cadence, precise in force.

Behind, the crowd gathers into blur:
soft hats, folded arms, lifted phones,
modern shapes dissolving
into witness rather than presence.
They stand at the edge of the circle,
quieted by the seriousness of motion.

The garden holds it all
trees steady, paths attentive,
the city paused for a breath.
Once a parade ground, once a place of drills,
now it hosts another discipline:
dance as memory,
dance as declaration,
each movement inscribed briefly
into the air,
then gone.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1050

Melbourne Candid Series #1279 Nicholson St

 

A woman in tight-cut city stride,
Coffee warming one sure hand,
Her phone a glow she will not hide,
A compass she alone can understand.

She walks the street without a glance,
Skipping the world before her feet,
Lost in her screen’s unfolding dance,
Threading through the urban beat.

Traffic hums and footsteps blur,
Yet she moves on, absorbed, alone
A modern wanderer wrapped in her

Small bright kingdom of glass and phone

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1036

Melbourne Candid Series #1278 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff Garden’s gentle shade,
A bald head gleams beneath the day,
Brush in hand, the artist sways,
Tracing colors where masks will play.

A Peking opera rises there,
Red and black upon pale skin,
Curved lines like whispers in the air,
Stories of warriors drawn within.

A mustache arches, bold, precise,
Shadowed against the garden’s green,
Each stroke a dance, each hue a slice
Of ancient theatre, alive, unseen.

Pedestrians pause, the city hums,
But time slows here, a quiet art,
Two souls converse with pigment drums,
And painted faces speak from heart.

Sony A7RV

FE 135mm f1.8 GM

Check out Candid 1035

Melbourne Candid Series #1275 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff Garden,
colour has slipped away—
leaving only the hush
of black and white.

A woman in traditional Mexican dress
moves like a soft echo
from another time.
Her embroidered skirt,
no longer bright,
unfurls in shades of cloud and ink.

She holds a cup with both hands,
its pale rim catching
a thin silver glint of light.
Every step she takes
sends a quiet ripple
through the grayscale air
a dance made of shadows,
memory, and breath.

The festival hum fades
to a distant murmur,
as if the world is listening
through old film grain.
Pigeons lift like smudged brushstrokes,
trees stand in charcoal stillness.

And she
she becomes the single moving spark
in this monochrome garden,
turning the absence of colour
into its own kind of beauty,
a dance that glows softly
in the language of dusk
and silver rain.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 1032 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1274 Flagstaff Garden

 

In Flagstaff Garden’s open green,
a man in woven reds and golds
steps into sunlight.
His sombrero casts a wandering shadow,
wide as a travelling story,
while his boots tap out
the heartbeat of another land.

Ribbons flare from his sleeves
small wings lifting with each turn
and the embroidered birds on his vest
seem almost ready to fly.

He dances as though the earth remembers him,
as though the wind hums old corridos
just for his feet.
Children pause, pigeons scatter,
and the city stills its hurried breath
to watch colour, rhythm, and history
spin briefly into bloom.

In the quiet after his final step,
Flagstaff Garden feels larger
as if one man’s dance
has opened a doorway
to a faraway sun.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 1030

Melbourne Candid Series #1237 Albert Lake

 

By Albert Park Lake in Melbourne’s chill,
a young chap stood, poised and still
man bun tight, a Viking’s air,
the morning light caught in his hair.

In his hands, a slender staff—
at either end, twin circles laughed,
spinning, flashing, slicing air,
a dance of metal, bold and rare.

He moved with rhythm, fierce and free,
each turn a whispered melody,
the lake reflected sky and flame,
and he—untamed—without a name.

Joggers slowed, the breeze grew keen,
the water shimmered, silver-green;
the blades kept turning, wild delight
a Norse ghost playing in the light.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 993

Brisbane Candid Series #1231 Noosa Esplanade

 

A mangrove stands where sand meets sea,
Its roots like fingers in a briny plea.
Alone it rises, steadfast, still,
Bathed in sun, kissed by wind’s will.

Along the shore, a lone soul treads,
Where water shimmers and daylight spreads.
Footprints vanish in the tide’s embrace,
Yet the mangrove holds its quiet grace.

Salt and sky in a gentle dance,
Time slows here, caught in a trance.
One tree, one walker, the ocean’s hymn,
A fleeting world both vast and dim.

Sony A7RV

FE 20-70mm f4 G

Check out Candid 987

Melbourne Candid Series #1161 Swanston St

 

Off Swanston Street where trams glide past,
A gent sits down, the crowd flows fast.
His frame is broad, his shirt stretched tight,
A beer gut round, in grayscale light.

But hush the world and let him play
His fingers dance, then drift away.
A melody both rich and clear
Pours from the keys, and draws you near.

No stage, no suit, no grand parade,
Just soul and song in light and shade.
Each note a tale, each pause a breath,
A beauty born from life and depth.

And though the photo’s black and white,
You hear the sound, you feel the light.
A gentle giant, slouched with grace,
Making music in a passing place.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 916

Melbourne Candid Series #1155 Collins Arcade

 

In Collins Arcade where footsteps glide,
A waiter moves with pride.
Plates in both hands, steady and sure,
He weaves through noon’s soft shopping blur.

A glint of light on polished dome,
Among the echoes, he's at home.
A silent dance on marble floor,
Balancing lunch and something more

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 909

Melbourne Candid Series 1150 Swanston St

 

A man walks with measured pace,
In weathered jeans, with timeworn grace,
Down Swanston Street, beneath the sun,
Where Melbourne’s rhythm softly runs.

Beside him strides a younger frame,
A girl of brightness none could tame—
Dark hair, a shimmer, sunglasses bold,
A phone in hand, the future told.

Two lives aligned for just a street,
A fleeting dance, the past and fleet,
He walks in thought, she taps and swipes,
Their worlds diverge, yet both alike.

A moment held in city light,
Of age and youth in shared delight,
No word exchanged, no need for sound—
Just footsteps echoing downtown.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out 

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 #1108 Latrobe St

 

Beneath the glow of neon skies,
On La Trobe where the tram line lies,
A café hums with twilight’s grace,
Its windows catch her earnest face.

She leans across the table low,
Where streetlights cast a golden glow,
One hand aloft, mid-phrase, mid-flight—
A flame of thought, alive with light.

Her words are wind, her fingers dance,
Each motion sharp, a bold advance.
The other girl, in silence steeped,
Watches her meaning slowly seep.

Espresso cools, the hour grows deep,
Yet neither bends toward rest or sleep.
The night, a stage of shadowed flame,
Records their truths without a name.

For here, beneath the city’s skin,
The realest talks of life begin.
Two souls in flare, one gesture wide—
A moment lit, then brushed aside.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 864 and FACE OFF

Melbourne Candid Series #1106 Latrobe St

 

On LaTrobe Street where city hums and glows,
A lady walks, her footsteps soft and slow.
Her back to us, a bag swung by her side,
She moves with grace where bustling crowds reside.

Through glass and light of Melbourne’s evening gleam,
She enters in, a quiet, fleeting dream.
The restaurant’s warm doors part wide and clear,
Inviting her to moments held sincere.

In urban pulse where stories intertwine,
She walks unseen, a figure by design.
A glimpse, a step — the city’s gentle beat,
A dance of life where strangers and paths meet.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 862

Melbourne Candid Series #1102 Latrobe St

 

Through glass, I gaze where lights softly gleam,
A penthouse perch above the stream
Of La Trobe’s hum, where city sighs
Rise gently under dusking skies.

Inside, a hush before the flare—
The kitchen stirs with quiet care.
White coats move in a measured dance,
A prelude born of skill and chance.

Knives whisper, steam begins to climb,
Cocktails shimmer, caught in time.
Laughter waits in crystal’s ring,
As chefs and waiters, deft, unseen,
Prepare the night’s unfolding art—
Each plate a story, every start
A promise scented, warm, and bright,
Beneath the Melbourne evening light.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 858

Melbourne Candid Series #1099 Latrobe St

 

A flicker, a blur in black and white,
LaTrobe Street hums with ghostly light.
Figures drift through evening’s haze,
Like dreams that walk in city’s maze.

Costumes swirl in shadowed gleam,
Half-seen faces from a fevered dream.
Masks and laughter, heels that glide,
Through the grayscale pulse of Melbourne’s side.

Sequins shimmer, then disappear,
Caught in headlight ghosts that veer.
A cape, a crown, a tangled wig —
Moments vanish, faint and big.

No color names the scene tonight,
Just monochrome and borrowed light.
A party spills from time and street,
Where strangers in disguise all meet.

The tram-line hums a distant song,
While blurred legs dance the night along.
And memory holds what lens can't keep —
A moving dream, half-lost in sleep.

Sony A7RV

FE 50mm f1.2 GM

Check out Candid 855