The King And I

 Image copyright: DAVID McMAHON. Image ID: 139-6914

One day Elvis was in the shop window - then he was gone. There's this beautiful white building in South Melbourne that is more than a century old. It has huge old-fashioned windows, a door that opens on the street corner, and a high turret at the apex of the V-shaped building.

It always catches my attention when I drive past this area, because it harks back to a different era and also because it is such a contrast to the other, more modern architecture that has sprung up around it. The building is now home to a place called The Costume Shop and about a week ago I noticed that one of the mannequins in the window was dressed like Elvis Presley.

I was determined to return to the area and take some shots of the figure. A couple of days later I made sure I had a few minutes up my sleeve. I parked down a side street, and walked over to the shop. To my disappointment, it hadn't opened for the day, but I decided to shoot some images from outside. Interestingly, this was not as easy as it might sound, because of the reflections in the window.

Eventually I managed to find an angle where I wasn't getting too many reflections- and trudged slowly back to my car, disappointed that I hadn't been able to get into the shop. But the next time I was in the area, a day or two later, Elvis was gone.

As a good friend of mine quipped, Elvis had well and truly left the building.

There were no clues as to his whereabouts. Not even a pair of scuffed blue suede shoes.