Street Photography in Melbourne

Hosier Lane is Melbourne's best-known street art lane, just across Flinders Street from Federation Square. The walls change constantly as artists paint over each other, so no two visits look the same. The lane gets crowded with tourists posing for photos, which is your subject: people performing for their phones against a wall of color. Walk Melbourne suggests early morning or later in the evening for fewer people. Stand back at the lane entrance and shoot someone framed against a mural whose painted figure echoes their pose. Watch for artists at work, and ask before you photograph them.

Flinders Street Station's yellow facade and clock row are the classic Melbourne meeting point, and Federation Square across the road adds angular modern architecture. Melbourne Street Photography suggests rush hour for crowds and night for the lit facade. The crossing at Flinders and Swanston is one of the busiest in the city, with trams cutting through. Stand on the Fed Square side at dusk and shoot commuters crossing with the lit station behind. Photography inside Victorian railway stations may be restricted, so keep your work on the public street outside.

Queen Victoria Market opens Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:00 to 15:00 and on weekends from 9:00 to 16:00. It is closed Monday and Wednesday by day. The produce sheds and meat hall are full of vendors calling prices and shoppers with trolleys. From November to March, the Wednesday night market brings food stalls and evening crowds. Weekend mornings are busiest. The long open sheds give soft, even light from the sides. Shoot along an aisle, with a vendor's hands and the produce in the foreground. Vendors are working, so buy something and ask before a close portrait.

Melbourne's Chinatown along Little Bourke Street dates to the gold rush of the 1850s, and it is one of the oldest in the Western world. The street is narrow and lined with restaurants and neon. Melbourne Street Photography calls it a great night location. Come after dark when the signs are on and the restaurants are full. Stand under one of the archways and shoot along the street as people pass through the red light. Lunar New Year in January or February brings lion dances and big crowds. Staff outside restaurants may not want to be in your frame, so keep it moving.

Fitzroy is the city's bohemian heart, and Brunswick Street is its main artery. It has vintage shops, pubs, cafés and plenty of street art. The crowd is young and relaxed about cameras. Come on a weekend afternoon for the most people, or in the evening when the pubs fill up. Tram 11 runs up the middle of the street, which gives you a moving background. Stand at a tram stop and shoot people waiting with the tram coming in behind them. Smith Street, a few blocks east, is grittier and worth a pass too. Respect people drinking outside pubs.

Bourke Street Mall is a pedestrian shopping street with trams running straight through it, so shoppers and trams share the same space. Buskers play most days. It is busiest at lunchtime and on weekends. The Block Arcade and Degraves Street are a few minutes' walk south. Walk Melbourne notes the Block Arcade dates from 1892, with mosaic floors and a domed ceiling. Stand on the edge of the tram tracks, safely, and shoot shoppers stepping aside for a tram. Trams are silent and quick, so always look both ways.