Playing Favourites

Image Conscious (And The Story Behind Each Shot)

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Since this week's Photo Hunt theme is "Favourites", I've tried to select three of my most cherished images, not just for what they depict in colour and form, but for the story that goes with each shot.

2006. Calcutta, India

This was taken on a hot, sticky, intensely humid night during a very brief and unexpected visit to the city where I was born. It was in the middle of the Pujas, the peak Hindu festival season and it was also the night before Id, the major Muslim festival.

At this street bazaar behind the New Market, the crowds were almost impenetrable. There was no threat, no danger, for these were only shoppers in holiday mood. This was no street for someone in a hurry. The car inched along until I decided the best thing was to go on foot in search of some photographs.

I was dripping perspiration when I finally saw a stall selling colourful bangles. I had taken half a dozen frames when I saw this display – and immediately I knew I had a shot to treasure, if only I could get it right.

I steadied myself against the passing crowd. I chose my settings carefully in the darkness, to make the best use of the single naked bulb above the display. And, yes, I ignored the squadron of little green Diwali flies that were biting my scalp.


2007. Yarra River, Melbourne

The sun was coming up over the Melbourne Cricket Ground as I walked across Princes Bridge. It was not a frosty morning, but still one of those cold Melbourne dawns – and the blowtorch of golden light reflected on the Yarra River was a breathtaking sight.

As always, there were rowers and kayakers on the river and I could see that one was heading on a course that would run parallel to the pooling light. I waited patiently, thankful for the 18-125mm lens that enabled me to frame exactly what I wanted.

I didn’t wait until the low keel was in the middle of the frame. I understand just how powerful an asymmetrical composition can be in terms of emphasis and I wanted the hull and the oars off-centre, so that the liquid gold would be the main focal point and the eye would notice the rower as a value-added bonus to the composition.


2007. Dandenong Road, Melbourne

There are winter fogs in Melbourne, but this was one of the most interesting I’ve ever seen. This was shot at about 5am as I drove down Dandenong Road towards the city.

For all the world, it looked as if someone had smeared orange jelly across my windscreen. I pulled over, put my hazard lights on and because there was no traffic at all I was able to take some interesting semi-ghostly shots looking straight down the road.

But I needed some other object or device, to use as a counterpoint to the striking colour of the fog. I walked down the broad median strip that doubles as the tram tracks – and found my lodestone there. Not only was there a tall palm tree to use in silhouette, there was also a tram shelter. Because of its construction, it not only provided a slender silhouette, but gave me a Shrek-like sheen through the glass panels as well.

The quality of the street lights in the thick fog evoked an image of Dickensian London and it also gave me an interesting reflection across the metal of the tram shelter. I guess this is one of those images that could have been shot in any century, in any city.

There is a certain timeless quality to it and you almost expect to see Bill Sykes and Fagin emerging from the orange gloom.

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Keeping Track Of Tram Stops

Remember The Time When Timber Ruled?

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This old tram stop on Dandenong Road is a wonderful reminder of what Melbourne looked like in the colonial era. The city is famous for its trams (trolley cars, to some of my readers) and there are not many of the old, preserved tram shelters left. I know there is at least one more on St Kilda Road and I’m sure there are a few others dotted around the city.

A couple of years ago, when the tram shelters along Dandenong Road (Dandy Road, to Melburnians) were being renovated, I wondered if this one would be retained or whether it would come down to make way for the slimline, no-fuss, alloy and glass constructions that seem so unobtrusive.

To my relief, it remained where it was. As you can see in the photograph below, back in the days when carpentry was about as hi-tech as anyone wanted to get, good seating and an adequate roof was all-important. It is painted in the green and gold colours that represent this country and its sturdy construction offers protection not just from the elements, but also from the whipping breeze that is such a part of Melbourne.

Dandy Road runs four lanes in each direction, while the trams run up and down the wide median strip. In this shot (below) taken from the opposite footpath, you can actually see a silver/grey minimalist structure between the camera and my subject. That is one of the new tram shelters, where display advertising panels face the traffic.

This last shot is actually a close-up of the roofline of the old tram shelter. It wasn’t so much the terracotta colour that drew my attention, as the graceful curves. Against the light sky, the contrast was perfect.

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Face Value

A Larger-Than-Life Figure

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Kinda makes you look twice, doesn’t it? It’s just an advertising hoarding at a tram shelter near the intersection of Chapel Street and Dandenong Road here in Melbourne. I was fascinated by the apparent anomaly in perspective, so I shot this through the window of my car as I sat at the traffic lights. As I put the camera away, two people came and sat down to the left of the giant face. It would have made an even better picture, but the lights were changing and I had to put the camera down. This shot would have little interest to a Melburnian, who would be familiar with these ad hoardings. But I’ve always told other bloggers to post pictures of their own cities or towns, because those of us from other parts of the world always find these sights interesting. I’d like to know your thoughts on this subject…