The Eddy Avenue entrance to Central Station. From a quick trip down to Sydney last Thursday, first time I’d been back down in about a year.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2020
Central Station, Eddy Avenue
Sydney
Central Street Revisited
Just a day, just an ordinary day
Just trying to get by
Just a boy, just an ordinary boy
But he was looking to the sky
~ Ordinary Day, Vanessa Carlton
I took this photo about a year ago during a day trip to Sydney. It’s of one of my favourite spots for street photography in the Sydney CBD, Central Street, a little avenue opposite the Event cinemas on George Street.
I’ve taken several photos there over the years, including this one which is one of my favourites. It’s a great little spot to go back to as the scene is always changing and there’s always something new and interesting to photograph.
I was quite happy with how this one turned out. It’s very simple but captures a slice of ordinary life that I find really interesting and I like the tones and textures as well.
The area looked very different the last time I was down as well with all the construction going on at the moment. I’ll have to get a couple of photos of that too.
Photo © CJ Levinson 2017
Share this:
Sydney Sunset
Lights, sirens,
Cars, music, skyscrapers,
Laughter:
This is Sydney to me
I’ve been in Sydney for the last couple of days. The sunsets have been really beautiful and I managed to catch this shot yesterday. Simple but I like how it came out.
After 5 years in Newcastle, a part of me still misses Sydney. My friends. The culture, social life. So much of my life has been here that it will probably always feel like home to me.
I don’t miss it as much as I used to though. I guess I’ve moved on but then Sydney has moved on as well. A lot of my favourite places, the cafes and shops and bookstores and galleries I used to go to are gone now or rebranded. Sydney is changing. Which is both good and a little sad but it makes moving on a little easier.
This view never seems to change much though. I used to walk past this spot, near Queen’s Park, on my way to school twenty five years ago and the view still looks much the same now as it did back then. I wonder if it still will in another twenty five?
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2018
Share this:
Busker on Eddy Avenue
Cars, trains, voices
A city screaming ~
His guitar
Carries me away
I took this photo a couple of months ago while I was in Sydney briefly. This spot just opposite Central Station on Eddy Avenue is very popular with buskers and I often stop to watch them for a minute or two. Some of them are pretty good, others, well, could use a little more practice.
I was very impressed with this busker though. His guitar playing was excellent and he seemed genuinely lost in the music at times. I enjoyed listening to him.
I gave him a couple of dollars and took a quick snap before moving on. I like how it came out, particularly in black and white. It captures the mood nicely.
Photo © CJ Levinson 2017, haiqua © 2018
Share this:
Sydney Photo Collage #2
This is another collage of Sydney photos that I made recently. It’s the third collage in the series and I really like how it came out.
Like the second collage, the photos were all taken around places I knew well while I lived in Sydney like Centennial Park and the QVB but I tried to choose ones which were a little more recognisable this time, like Centrepoint Tower.
The photos were taken over about five years and several of these photos are actually among some of my earliest serious works – the one of the Bali Memorial statue, in fact, is actually the very first photo I ever took with an SLR.
I think they work well together and show glimpses of the Sydney I know and love, which is what I wanted to try to represent. I look forward to hanging it on my wall.
Photo © CJ Levinson 2016
Share this:
The Bridge and Opera House
Distant memories
Frozen in time
Remind me of
My harbour home
I was going back through some of my archives earlier for another collage and I found these photos from about four years ago. I took them during a trip to Taronga Zoo and didn’t do much with them at the time… I think I gave them a quick edit and then they sat in my archives, mostly forgotten until now.
I’m glad I found them again today and took the time to edit them properly. I like the results – it can be difficult to photograph subjects that are as well known as the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, particularly from a distance, as it can be hard to find new angles and perspectives but I like how the framing is a bit different and how the edits help evoke a more vintage feel.
I was also happy to find the one of the Opera House as despite living in Sydney for so long (twenty five years!), I actually didn’t take that many photos of the Opera House. I took lots of the Harbour Bridge and lots of Centrepoint Tower but only a couple of the Opera House for some weird reason. So I’m glad to have this for my collection.
It was nice going back through the photos as well as I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic for Sydney lately. I’ve settled in well up here but in many ways I think Sydney will always be my home and it was nice revisiting some memories.
Photos © CJ Levinson 2012
Haiqua © CJ Levinson 2016
Share this:
Sydney Photo Collage
I finished the first of my Sydney photo collages earlier and thought I’d share it after sharing the Newcastle one yesterday.
I like how it came out, particularly the way the photos stand out from each other but also how the repetition of colours and styles gives it a feeling of consistency too.
I was aiming for something slightly different with this collage as the photos were all taken around where I used to live in Randwick and other places I used to visit regularly in Sydney, like Centennial Park and Queen’s Park. In fact the photo above the bottom right is of the Parish Centre at St Jude’s Church in Randwick, which is where I used to live with my parents in the early 1990s when they worked as vergers at the church (pictured on the left).
I chose the photos as I thought they worked well together and that it would be nice to have a reminder of my life in Sydney. It’ll look very nice once it’s printed and hung next to the Newcastle collage on my wall.
Photo © CJ Levinson 2016
Like the photo? Click here to buy it for $5
Share this:
From the Archives
Time is like water:
Shapeless
It winds and flows
Changing all it touches
I was going back through my archives earlier tonight and found this photo amongst them. It’s from October 2013 and I took it near Tamarama while exploring the Sculpture By the Sea exhibit.
I’m not sure why I never processed it… the composition and light are interesting and I can’t imagine not wanting to do something with it. The only thing I can think of is that I took a lot of photos that day and had a lot going on as well so maybe I put it aside meaning to get back to it and never did.
Either way I like the photo and how it came out. The colour of the water is beautiful and it has just the right mix of mood and atmosphere to go with the vibrant colour. I’m glad I went back and processed it.
I have a number of other photos in my archives I haven’t processed yet, including some from that day and the trip to New Zealand last year as well. I’ll have to go back through them properly… hopefully there might be a few more forgotten gems too.
Photo © CJ Levinson 2013, Haiqua © CJ Levinson 2016
Share this:
Sydney Tower in Black & White
Oh! To stand as tall
As a skyscraper
And weather
The winds of time
I took this a couple of months ago when I was in Sydney for a few days. It was a lovely day and I liked the contrast between the clouds and sky and Sydney Tower juxtaposed against them.
I thought it would make an interesting black and white and I like the end result… slightly old-fashioned but modern too, which was the look I was going for. Rather like Sydney itself.
Photo and haiqua © CJ Levinson 2014/15
