I have lived in Melbourne long enough that the city stopped being a destination and became the place I fly over on the way home.
That is often when the photograph happens.
The MCG from the air. The skyline sitting beyond Albert Park. Brighton just after sunrise. St Kilda when the beach is almost empty.
They aren't necessarily the photographs someone visiting Melbourne for the first time would expect to take. They are simply the parts of the city I keep noticing.
After travelling and photographing cities all over the world, Melbourne feels different to photograph because there is no pressure to see everything at once. I can return to the same places in different weather, different seasons and different light, sometimes for years, until something finally looks right.
The MCG from above
There are few places that feel more unmistakably Melbourne than the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
From street level, the MCG is enormous. From the air, its relationship with the city becomes more interesting. The stadium sits within the parklands with the Melbourne skyline rising behind it, and suddenly the photograph isn't only about sport. It becomes a photograph of the city itself.
That's why the Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG Aerial remains one of the photographs I recommend most often to people with a personal connection to Melbourne.
For someone who grew up going to the footy, remembers a Grand Final, follows the cricket or simply misses Melbourne, it means something before it even goes on the wall.
View the Melbourne Cricket Ground MCG Aerial →
Melbourne from Albert Park
If the MCG represents one side of Melbourne, Albert Park gives you almost the entire city.
Looking towards the CBD across the lake, you get water, parkland and skyline within the same frame. Around sunset, the buildings catch the last light while the foreground becomes quieter.
The result feels less like a traditional cityscape and more like Melbourne sitting within its surroundings.
The Melbourne Albert Park Sunset works particularly well as a larger framed print because there is enough space in the composition for your eye to move through the image rather than immediately landing on a single landmark.
For a living room or a wide wall, this is probably the photograph I'd choose if someone wanted Melbourne without making the room feel overtly urban.
View Melbourne Albert Park Sunset →
Brighton and the bay
Melbourne isn't only its CBD.
Keep travelling south and the character changes completely.
Brighton's bathing boxes are one of the city's most recognisable sights, but what interests me more is the relationship between the beach and the skyline in the distance.
From higher up, Melbourne appears almost unexpectedly beyond the water.
The Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes Sunrise photograph has more colour and warmth than most of my Melbourne city photographs, which makes it work particularly well in lighter interiors or spaces where a monochrome skyline would feel too formal.
View Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes Sunrise →
St Kilda when it goes quiet
St Kilda is usually associated with people, Luna Park, restaurants and summer afternoons.
Photographically, I often prefer it when that energy disappears.
From above, Luna Park, the coastline and the city beyond become shapes in a much larger landscape. In black and white especially, St Kilda becomes surprisingly graphic.
It is still recognisably Melbourne, just not the Melbourne shown on a postcard.
View St Kilda Beach & Luna Park Black and White →
Which Melbourne photograph should you choose?
People sometimes ask which Melbourne print is the best one to hang at home.
There isn't really a universal answer.
If the connection is sport, I would start with the MCG.
If you want Melbourne as a whole, Albert Park gives you the skyline without overwhelming the room.
If your connection is more coastal, Brighton has warmth and colour while St Kilda feels more graphic and architectural.
And if you prefer something quieter, there is a large part of the Melbourne collection photographed in black and white.
What matters most is finding the photograph that reminds you of your Melbourne, rather than simply choosing the most recognisable landmark.
From photograph to framed artwork
Every photograph in the Melbourne collection was photographed by me rather than sourced from a stock library.
The framed works are then made to order in Australia and arrive ready to hang. Classic Collection frames are handcrafted in Melbourne, while the larger Signature Collection pieces are produced in Sydney. Prints are available in black, white and natural oak framing, with sizes ranging from smaller pieces through to large statement works.
I like the idea that a photograph can begin somewhere above Melbourne or on an early morning walk and eventually end up on somebody's wall in the same city.
Perhaps that is why this is a collection I keep returning to.
Choosing Melbourne prints for a living room or office? Start here: Melbourne photography prints for home and office.
Explore the complete Melbourne photography print collection →
