Street photography, Barcelona, 1969

Street kids, Barcelona.1969 © Rob Walls 2013

Vinatero, Barcelona, 1969 © Rob Walls 2013

Street photography, London 1967-69

Publishing that 1960s photo of street children in Woolloomooloo a couple of days ago, led me to look through other pictures of mine from that period. In 1966 I travelled to London looking for experience on Fleet Street. I stayed five years, returning to Australia in 1971. Here are three pictures from that time. Never without a camera, pictures 2 and 3 were shot almost from exactly the same spot, within metres of the door of the basement studio I rented in Soho. Both were made in the moment I emerged into the street, on my way home.

I wonder, was the street life richer and more varied then? In hindsight, it seems so.

Busker, Kings Road, Chelsea, 1966 © Rob Walls

Outside the offices of Tailor & Cutter magazine, Gerrard Street, Soho, London © Rob Walls 1968

Rosie, a well known Soho street character of the 60s, Gerrard Street, Soho © Rob Walls 1969

Street kids, Woolloomooloo, 1962

Street kids, Chapel Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 1962 © Rob Walls 2013

I made this picture 51 years ago, when Woolloomooloo was an inner-city slum of dubious reputation. Only a few metres away was the infamous red light area of illegal brothels, Chapel Lane. The poster for Vincent’s APC on the wall above the children, is of somewhat curious historic interest. Vincent’s along with Bex powders,were highly addictive analgesics containing aspirin, phenacetin and caffeine, When it was found that they caused serious kidney damage they were taken off the market in 1970.

“Time eventually positions most photographs, even the most amateurish, at the level of art.”
― Susan Sontag

Some postcards from Sydney…

Southward bound now. Some postcards from one of my favourite Australian cities…

 

Lower Market Street. © Rob Walls 2010

Circular Quay © Rob Walls 2010

5.15pm Friday, George Street © Rob Walls 2010

Ugg! It's a job ® Rob Walls 2010

Castlereagh Street © Rob Walls 2010

King Street © Rob Walls 2010

 

 

Urban postcards…

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Though I live on an island renowned for its scenic beauty, I’ve always found the built environment more inspiring than nature. You can take a boy out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the boy, I guess. These are just a few of my favourite urban views from Sydney, New York, Penang, Hobart, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Amsterdam.