Market Row

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Market Row is a narrow lane in the centre of Sydney opposite the iconic Sydney Town Hall. Running off Druitt street parallel to York and Clarence streets, it serves as the back lane to a number of coffee shops and businesses. Also, being close to the busy George street cinema strip it is a venue for many varied clandestine, nocturnal activities.

If you walk down Market Row in the light of day you will see the remains of these activities amongst the unadorned, “behind the scenes” side of the proud frontages of the various businesses along York and Clarence streets.

Market Row

Old rugs and clothes hanging on the long unattended balconies with the exposed conduits and randomly placed air conditioners give a feeling of the true age of these buildings.

Behind the yellow glass you can imagine the back-room conversations and every-day decisions being made among the ghosts and memories of the times when these were simple residences above the small shops that were a part of the 1940’s and 50’s Sydney CBD

This last photo isn’t intended to make a statement other than to point out that an intriguing image can be found in what initially appears to be the mundane and every day. The curve of the broken render and the hastily applied green paint do however make a small statement to the apathetic attitude that prevails among the custodians of these back-ways that can be found in any city

Market Row

St Peters Brickworks

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The brickworks in St. Peters were built in the 19th century and operated till 1948. From the street the towering chimneys and kilns look like well preserved heritage, fronting the rolling hills of Sydney Park. However if you take a moment and look closer, maybe even wander around the back you will notice that they have now been adapted to another use.

That is the home for some of Sydney’s homeless. Old mattresses, crude cooking implements and makeshift doors populate what were once the entrances to the kilns.

Walk around a bit more and peer through the grates that now cover the entrances to the large kilns. You will see abandoned tools and machines from a bygone era. A time when a days work was up to twelve dirty, hot hours. Listen and you might even hear the murmurs of the ghosts of the dreams and hopes that this place once housed. Imagine the stories of the men who worked there. Maybe content in their labors or maybe doing the only thing they could to keep some food on the table during the hard-times of 1930’s life in Sydney. Now step away and look once again at the crude, cold temporary homes of the forgotten and neglected… and ask yourself is anything really any different.

This is the view from the street. The preserved chimneys and machinery of the old brickworks against the backdrop of what is now Sydney Park, which was built on the old clay pits that provided the brickworks with their raw materials.

Behind the elegant preserved facade you will discover the new role the brickworks play in the lives of the local residents

Behind the metal grates are relics from the brickworks history, from a time when they provided much needed employment in the area’s of Sydenham  and St Peters.

Parramatta at Night

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Diners and revellers spill out onto the footpath from the myriad of eating establishments that populate Church Street from the river to George Street. Alfresco dining reminiscent of Melbourne’s Lygon Street has largely taken over this area, allowing the diner to enjoy the evening outside to the accompaniment of numerous “boy racers” showing off their latest booming, low slung Japanese machine. All street legal, of course.

Approximately 35 kilometres west of the Sydney city area Parramatta is an area that has grown to a city in its own right. An eclectic mixture of cultures has created this restaurant and shopping precinct that is a fusion of the influences of the large Middle Eastern and Asian populations.

But walk one street back and the atmosphere changes. Nightlife is scattered and the population more furtive and evasive. The booming restaurant industry hasn’t quite made here yet. But wait it is coming.

The half hour just after sunset is the perfect time to capture areas such as this. There is still enough light in the sky to work without a tripod. Allowing you to work quickly and spontaneously.

Parra at Night

 

Footpath dining on the corners of Church and George Streets

The Woolpack Hotel just back from Church Street is reported to be the oldest licensed hotel in Australia. This is a fact that is hotly disputed.

A mere one block back from the main street and crowded restaurants are replaced by two lone figures

Redfern

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Old and forgotten, or remembered only in passing as fashion dictates that attention should be paid to it. The inner city suburb of Redfern typifies the now cliché description of a melting pot. Home to every one, from the large indigenous population and lower income demographics, to the newly rich young entrepreneur who has decided that this inner city suburb should be the next Glebe or Balmain. A brief walk around the area of Redfern station can bring to the fore the whole gamut of emotions from hope to despair.

 

Redfern 2Around the back of the rail yards near Redfern station the late afternoon sunlight picks out the colours of neglect and provides a kind of  urban beauty to what is a run down and disused area.

More Redfern Pictures