Melbourne’s usually packed city streets have gone quiet of late, with the majority of Melburnians working remotely and staying home to flatten the curve. Local photographer Gavin John took the opportunity to capture Melbourne Isolated – a photography series that portrays Melbourne during the current crisis and subsequent shutdown.
Melbourne Isolated was taken on March 28 and 29, just before stage three restrictions were enforced. John went out between 8am and 10am to shoot the city and Docklands, describing the deserted streets as “surreal”. “Being a big fan of Melbourne I spend all my time in the city, in the galleries and the shops and the laneways. So I’m used to crowds,” says John “Wherever I pointed my camera there was just emptiness everywhere.”
The series feature major Melbourne sites like Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, Royal Arcade, the MCG, Queen Victoria Market, Hosier Lane and the NGV. There’s barely a person or car to be seen – though notably it seems that Melbourne’s street artists were still hard at work at that time (bless). Take a look through a selection of the photos below.
The full Melbourne Isolated series can be viewed online.
John usually shoots nature landscapes, having traveled as far afield as Patagonia and the Himalayas to capture remote wilderness scenes on camera. The Melbourne Isolated series came about as travel bans and stay-at-home directions were implemented and he had to find an alternative subject, with John saying, “What better subject than to photograph the city I love and have lived in for the past 20 years?”
If you’re interested in purchasing any of John’s work you can get in contact with him via his website.