Sydneyside — Photo Journal 2017, Weeks 6–8
What do you call someone from Sydney, Australia? Insert a joke here if you have a good one, but the proper term for a person hailing from this fab city Down Under is “Sydneysider”. That would be my wife and a lot of our family and friends who we just spent 10 days visiting. It flew by, but with rain and jetlag on either end here in San Francisco, Weeks 6–8 get to be a celebration of my brief Sydney summer.
Now if you are from Melbourne (or, Australia’s “other city”) as most of the world thinks of it, you’ll have a different opinion of Sydney. In fact, the Urban Dictionary defines a “Sydneysider”, in short, as:
A person who lives in Sydney, Australia and really hates Melbourne. Their hobbies include sooking about how Sydney is better than Melbourne…. They are also upset that Melbourne is the sporting, fashion and cultural capital of Australia. Sydney is although home to Australia’s drug capital, King’s Cross.
Well, good to know. Especially since my wife and I like to stay in an AirBnb in Kings Cross! (no apostrophe, btw, Urban Dictionary).
It makes for great photo-taking, that’s for sure. And the “gray area” between what is now Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay and any other number of the more than 600 suburbs that make up the whole of Sydney becomes blurrier each time we visit.
In fact, during our 10 days, the name of a popular Kings Cross pub changed from the Sugar Mill to the Potts Point Hotel.
For a much more detailed history of Sydney’s diverse suburb situation (and way better photos), check out Louise Hawson’s excellent documentary photo blog and book, “52 Suburbs”.
I was “on holiday”, as the Aussies say, and while I scheduled time to do two photo walks, both were rained out! One by a torrential downpour that went on for about 24 hours, and the other by massive thunder and lightening. Such is summer in this city. The weather can literally change while walking from one beach to another.
Hard times, I know!
With the trip changing like the weather from working holiday to just straight up time off, I did my best to stop focusing on a long-term photo documentary project of the rapidly changing “Cross”. I know I will be back again soon — but what will the neighborhood be like then?
I find my photo walks need to be solitary events. When I’m out with someone, I guess I feel a little rude breaking away to start shooting. Sometimes I only intend to take one quick photo. That can quickly escalate into either a full-blown street shoot when the subjects are so willing as they typically are in the early part of the night in a neighborhood like Kings Cross — or become slightly agitating when you know you need to be present with present company and let photo opportunities slip by.
I guess one way around this is to go with your friends to a drag show. Everyone takes photos. Everyone wins!
To see my complete 2017 Flickr photo journal (so far), click here.
Or, read back issues of the photo journal here: Week 1, Weeks 2–3, Weeks 4–5.
