The Gift Of A Voice

That’s Not A Disability, That’s A Real Ability

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I shot this about a week ago, on one of those interesting Melbourne days when you’re not quite sure what the weather is going to do next. Spring was not yet a week old, but the sky was patchy, blue in one area and moody grey in others.

When the sun shone unimpeded, the caress of its rays was balmy. But when the sun slid behind cloud cover, it seemed as if the temperature dived substantially. I was shooting some images across the river when I heard someone singing Simon and Garfunkel tunes.

I looked around, wondering where the sound was coming from. It took me a few seconds to work it out. Then I spotted them - there were two blokes positioned in a corner of the pedestrian footbridge that spans the Yarra River.

The guitarist was able-bodied. The vocalist accompanying him was in a wheelchair. Were they related? I don’t know. But they sure knew how to harmonise.

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Frosty, Is That Really You?

You've Grown Into Such A Well-Rounded Character

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

About ten days ago, I was walking down Elizabeth Street in the city, when I thought I saw a snowman. So I stopped. Blinked. Rubbed my eyes. Looked again. It was still there. And yes, it was most definitely a snowman.

But of course it wasn't real. It wasn't made out of genuine snow. I thought about crossing the street to get a closer look, and then I figured I'd be able to depict it more accurately from where I stood, several metres away on the opposite pavement.

So I shot a couple of frames from where I stood, with the late-afternoon sunlight angled across the board near Frosty's arms. With my zoom lens, I could pick out the words "Snow Report" on the whiteboard, along with the date, Friday 4 September.

And yes, it was more fun taking photographs than being on the ski slopes.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Hats Off To Her

This Could Be A Scene From A Pre-War Movie

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I was walking down a café zone in Melbourne about six weeks ago when I noticed a woman walking several metres ahead of me. It was a cold afternoon, with low cloud, a bit of drizzle and a testing wind.

She had on a hat and full-length coat and for a split second I wondered of there was a film or documentary crew somewhere, shooting her as she walked down the well-known lane in the central business district.

I had my camera around my neck, so I just sprinted a few yards and shot a quick frame, composing the shot instinctively to tried an exclude any extraneous elements and simply concentrate on a head-and-shoulders-from-behind shot that placed her in the context of the street, against colours that complemented the red-and-black ensemble she was wearing.

Yes, I know it’s not the sharpest image I’ve shot, but it’s here on my blog because it’s a real depiction of a shot taken literally while I was at full stride. A few seconds later, I realised she was not an actress, and that there was no film crew.

But I caught up with her anyway, introduced myself and said I’d taken a couple of shots as she walked ahead of me. I offered to show her the images on the LCD screen of my camera and said I’d delete them if she had any reservations about being photographed, albeit in a way that did not identify her.

But she told me she had no objections. So this is the story of that shot …


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

It's The Fort That Counts

We're Starting To See A Pattern Here

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

It might look like faux military-style camouflage, but it ain’t. It might look like the door-and-window façade of some old fort, but it ain’t.

It’s just a view of Hosier Lane in Melbourne’s CBD. It's simply a narrow laneway, but it’s acquiring something of an international reputation because of the rich street art that has sprouted on the walls.

If you look carefully at the bottom right-hand corner of this image, you’ll actually see a segment of the footpath. That’s simply because the laneway is on an incline, and I shot this image dead straight to give you an idea of horizontal orientation.

That figure on the left, in the doorway, isn’t painted on the door’s glass surface. It’s actually the reflection of a real person. It was rainy, cold and windy when I shot this image, but there were at least half a dozen tourists and local students braving the weather and trying to shield their cameras from the rain.

That's the real attraction of street art. There's nowhere to hide - for the artist, or for the viewer.

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Contrasts In Style And Grace

Two Faces Of Melbourne’s Architectural History

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

These shots were taken while I was walking towards Flinders Street Station recently, on an afternoon when the wind was biting but the sky turned brilliant blue for a short while.

As I walked, just soaking up the atmosphere of this beautiful city, I suddenly realised that if I found the precise angle, I could capture an interesting shot of the city.

So amid the crowds, I waited until I could find just the right spot in front of the city’s main station. I used my long lens for this sequence, because I wanted a really tight frame that encompassed two different styles and two very different eras in the city’s rich history.

In the foreground is the graceful Victorian-style façade of Flinders Street Station, just to the right of the central dome above the main entrance. In the background is Eureka Tower, the highest residential structure in the southern hemisphere.

The station is redolent of nineteenth century grace, while the super-skyscraper that redefines Melbourne’s skyline has only been officially open since October 2006.

So there you have it. A single frame that presents both ends of the spectrum of Melbourne’s most recognisable buildings.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Taking Steps

Long Winter Shadows On A Melbourne Afternoon

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Even though it's winter here, the afternoon sun can sometimes produce great shadows. About ten days ago, I was going to take a straight-on shot of these steps. Then I thought it would be far more interesting to wait a few minutes and actually try and get a shot of feet on the steps as someone walked past.

I was standing on the Yarra side of the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and you'd reckon there'd be a lot of people walking past. But no, I had to wait a few minutes and I was determined to shoot the first person, without asking them to walk at a particular angle or at a certain pace.

It's an interesting task, because you don't know whether the person is going to walk straight, diagonally, up the stairs or down them.

Luckily this person strode along the top of the walkway and I was able to get a perfectly candid, unposed shot of his shoes - and a clearly defined shadow.

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Image Building

Hello Dali, Well, Hello Dali

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I reckon I've walked past this building dozens of times, but what caught my attention about five weeks ago, when I took these shots, was the interesting, moody sky reflected in the sharply segmented exterior glass of the structure.

It was a grey winter day with scattered patches of blue sky, and I stood there for a few seconds, enthralled by the wonderful reflection I could see. You see, this building is on the south side of the Yarra, but because of where I was standing, I could actually see the reflection of the Optus building and other offices on the other side of the river bank.

Then when I sat down at my computer later and examined the images, something caught my eye. See how the word "Optus" is reversed - as you'd expect in a mirror image?

Now look at the bottom image and have a look at the very dark flag (in the bottom left-hand corner) advertising the Salvador Dali exhibition. Well, here's the puzzle - the lettering is the right way round.

It took me at least a minute to figure it out. The flag was obviously flying the wrong way round in the crisp, cold breeze - but the reflection has inverted it to seem "normal".


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

The Best Little Oar House In Texas

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

The Yarra River is more than just the waterway on which Melbourne’s founding fathers decided to build the city. It is an integral part of the city’s sporting culture, and on its banks are English elms (rather than Australian native trees) which were planted by English colonists who hankered for familiar foliage.

This shot was taken just before dawn last Friday, when the river took on an interesting silver-pink hue as it reflected the clouds high above. I was walking across Princes Bridge when I looked down and saw this crew rowing towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Naturally, I had to stop to take the shot. I took two frames, unsure of whether my reactions would actually be quick enough to capture the concentric pools of water left by the passage of each oar.

Looks like the result wasn't too shabby. The thing I really like about this low-light, quick-motion shot is that you can still see the swirls and eddies left by the previous dip of the oars into the water. Fast swirls. And also, er, fast eddies.

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Heart Starter

Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This shot was taken just over a fortnight ago, as I walked past Flinders Street Station. I noticed there were new posters affixed to the tram shelter between the station and Federation Square.

And I also realised that if I really walked quickly, I'd be able to get a clear shot of the poster through the traffic - with a tram in the background. I wasn't quite quick enough, because the tram was actually moving when I hit the trigger for this shot.

And in case you're wondering what the sticker says up the top of the glass of the tram shelter, it is: "No smoking in covered areas."

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Ageless Art

A City's Tribute To Unsung Artisans

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Last week I was walking towards Bourke Street when I decided to walk under the portico of the Melbourne Town Hall - always a visual treat by itself.

There are two of these huge arches with their distinctive colonial-era wrought iron work on either end. Because I was walking towards the business district, one of the high archways gave me a view of the upper facade of the Town Hall, while the other (the one I've photographed here) looked skywards.

As I shot the image, I wondered about the craftsman or the team of craftsmen who created this beautifully symmetrical piece of art. Did they first sketch the pattern on paper and then modify it until it had met everyone's approval, before starting what would have been a painstaking, laborious process to recreate it in metal?

It would be difficult enough to create something this ornate on paper, let alone to try and forge each individual element in metal and then weld each segment together. It is almost heresy for someone in the twenty-first century to walk past and capture it with a single press of a camera shutter.

But it's also a way of honouring their art - and sharing it with a wider audience.

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Booth Hill

Get Into Rugby Mode This Winter

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Now that we’re right into winter here in Melbourne and the days get continually shorter, the sport of choice is Australian Rules football. But these photos prove that Melbourne, the sporting capital of this nation, embraces just about any sport.

Rugby union is about to take my city by storm – as you can see by the larger-than-life mural at this Visitor Centre on the Bourke Street Mall. There is already a fair bit of talk about this month’s two-Test series, when the Qantas Wallabies take on Italy in the 2009 Bundaberg Rum Rugby Series.

How big are the murals? Like most rugby players, they are high and wide. This next shot, with a passer-by in the frame, should put it all into context for you.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

The Art Of Banking

Aboriginal Paintings Are Larger Than Life

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Yes, this is Aboriginal art. And yes, this is a real street scene in Melbourne, not a mock-up in an art gallery!

These two ATMs ("flexi-tellers" or "flexis" as we call them in Melbourne) are part of a major project by National Australia Bank to highlight artwork by Aboriginal women of the Titjikala Arts Centre in the Simpson Desert.

Beside each of the ATMs is a plaque with the name of each artwork and the name of the artist. I shot this last Friday (22nd May 2009) during my lunch break.

I wanted a human figure in the frame, simply to emphasise that my composition embraced more than static artwork. Normally, there are about half a dozen people waiting to use the two machines, but as luck would have it, there was only a solitary person, despite Friday being the busiest day of the week. I shot this tight frame very quickly – and was extremely lucky that no one else walked into the frame from either direction.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Blue Suede Style

A Perfect Case of Cane And Able

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

As I walked through the Bourke Street Mall recently, I could hear an Elvis song above all the myriad sounds of the beautiful city I live in. I knew immediately it was a street performer, but I couldn’t actually see the singer.

As I walked up the street, I saw this man on a street corner. At first I could just see his head and shoulders - it helps when you’re well over six feet tall, because you get a clear view most of the time. The closer I got, the more poignant the scene became.

The street performer was seriously vision-impaired, hence the dark glasses, the white cane and the prominent sign. I stood and watched him for a few seconds as people hurried past. So many people, so many things on their minds, and yet this man stood, seemingly oblivious to the pace of the city, delivering the ballads that probably held great significance in his own life.


There was nothing to announce that he was open to donations, but I saw that he had an upturned Akubra hat (a quintessential symbol of Australia) above his amplifier. So I dropped a two-dollar coin into his hat and he actually broke off in mid-delivery to say "Thank you".

I then asked him if he would mind me taking some photographs and he grinned and said, "Go ahead. I’m sorry I’m not the most photogenic subject".

It was much later that I thought of an appropriate reply. I should have just said "Ah, but you’re a profile in courage."


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

The Magic Of Spangles

Yes, You Can Shoot The Shimmering Water

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

I’ve never been a tripod sort of guy. Yes, there are many good reasons for using one, especially in low light, in darkness and when using long exposure times. But I have to admit, for a bloke who does a fair amount of low-light shooting, I haven’t felt a pressing need for one.

The only time I’ve come close to acknowledging it would be handy to have a tripod was on New Year’s Eve a few months ago. There were thousands of families (some official estimates put the figure at more than 100,000 people) on both banks of the Yarra to watch the fireworks, a great Melbourne tradition.


Complete darkness only cloaked the city at about 9.30, because December is a summer month for us topsy-turvy Australians. And shortly after, I walked down past the river bank to see what the crowds were like. That’s when I noticed the lights reflected in the rippling surface of the river. I took a couple of shots, but they weren’t great.

I was about to move on when a boat went slowly up the river towards the city centre. Of course, its wake created more movement across the surface and that started me thinking. Yes, I could find a handy post or railing and steady the camera to get the shot I wanted. Or I could go the other way instead ....


I could embrace the shimmering river and set a slower shutter speed to emphasise the movement and colour across the water. The results are fairly interesting, because the red and gold patterns look like spiral spangles. Just goes to show – never be afraid to experiment or to think outside the square.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Green Lobby

Foliage In The Last Fortnight Of Autumn

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

At this time of year, with winter just a fortnight away, the light is softer, the shadows are longer and Melbourne’s gardeners are busy raking up leaves. I took these shots last weekend, when I noticed the sunlight striking one side of a street even while the other side was in shadow.

I waited about 45 minutes to take these shots, because I wanted the light to get a bit stronger so that the difference between the nearby green leaves on one side of the street and the bronzed leaves on the other side would be in sharper contrast.

Fortunately I had my long lens with me, so I was able to substitute my 18-125mm lens with my 70-300mm lens at my leisure. The trees in these shots are plane trees, which are very common around Melbourne and are the cause – at this time of year – of beautiful footpaths covered in a carpet of golden leaves.

Even though I’m over six foot, I needed a particular angle to take these shots, so I actually had to utilise something close by, standing on it to give myself an extra couple of feet in added height.

Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Post Haste

A Landmark That Rose From The Ashes

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

One of the many landmarks in graceful Melbourne is the GPO, a neo-Renaissance building that is Heritage listed. On 10 September, 2001, a day before the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, a fire ripped through this historic structure.

Although the blaze caused several million dollars' worth of damage, postal operations resumed the next day in an adjacent building. None of the 200,000 mail items was destroyed, although 600 items awaiting collection by visitors to the city were lost in the blaze and some other items sustained water damage.

But the edifice itself survived, despite the rubble and desolation between its walls. Less than three years later, it reopened in August 2004 - as a highly rated precinct devoted to fashion, shopping and cuisine.

These photographs were taken a few weeks ago. We took overseas visitors into the central business district and of course the trip had to include a quick excursion to the revamped GPO. There are many facets of the building that I find amazing, but these views, of soft floodlights accentuating its graceful lines, tell the simple story of a structure that defied the flames.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.

Too Many (Captain) Cooks? Never!

Must Be Time To Play Statues

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Melbourne, with its long daylight hours, tourist culture and café lifestyle, is a haven for outdoor performers of all descriptions. Southbank, in particular, is right on the pulse for entertainers, buskers and artists of many persuasions, probably because of the proximity to the performing arts precinct.


This series of shots was taken on the afternoon of Australia Day, January 26. I noticed a crowd gathered by the riverfront and took the lens cap off my trusty Pentax because I knew that something was afoot.

Sure enough, that’s when I spotted this mime artist/ actor dressed in a wonderful costume, depicting Captain James Cook, regarded as one of the greatest explorers of the 18th century. The costume and makeup were beautifully matched to look like a statue and the man impersonating Captain Cook did a great job with his ultra-slow-motion movements and an unchanging expression on his face.


When one child gave him a miniature Australian flag, he accepted it with a grave nod and ever so slowly put the flag into his pocket. There was a period of four seconds between these two photos, so you can see how slowly he was moving his hand.

I was walking away when I noticed this shy little girl being propelled by her mother. Fortuitously, I was in the perfect position for these shots, because the real point of interest was not the expression on the entertainer’s face, but the excitement that shone on the girl’s features.


Visit the creative team behind That's My World Tuesday.