Items

• 
  2021-09-10

  Australian Census Materials

  The Australian Census was conducted when many people and cities were in Lockdown. This changed the nature of Census work. No longer door knocking, workers were required to drop of census materials and reminders in keeping with 2021 contactless procedures. I wasn't allowed to doorknock but had to use intercoms for large apartment buildings. We were given masks and bright yellow satchels to carry materials.
• 
  2020-05-01

  Street art in South Melbourne

  Outside my work the council of Port Phillip commissioned an artwork on Coventry Street South Melbourne by Bridgette Dawson who goes by Melbourne Murals. She remastered the renaissance creation of Adam masterpiece dedicating the work to physical distancing. This piece developed throughout March when social distancing was fairly new and the mural demonstrates the way social distancing impacted everyday life. During this period the council of Port Phillip organised an initiative for property owners to register their buildings to have murals painted on the exterior. This would give artists work during a hard financial time and would deter graffiti. Port Phillip council also created a map for viewing their new street art installations, encouraging new walking paths when life seemed on repeat. I see this artwork nearly everyday and customers continually comment on it and smile about it. It’s a reflection of how COVID changed our lives and the spaces around us in South Melbourne.
• 
  2020-05-12T17:30+10:00

  Finding Light in the Darkness: Sunset from a Melbourne Apartment in Lockdown

  This photograph depicts a sunset from my apartment in Brunswick West, Melbourne on May 12, just before lockdown restrictions begin to ease in Victoria for the first time since March. I had spent that time completely alone in that apartment, as my room mate left for Queensland before lockdown began, my family mainly lived in Queensland, and my friends lived outside my suburb so I could not visit them. This was isolating in multiple ways and led to boredom, sadness, depression, agoraphobia and loneliness. I captured many sunsets like this over the months in my apartment, which brought a small bit of light amidst the dark monotony of lockdown. From this view I could imagine what lied beyond the walls of my small living space, and look forward to a day where I could feel safe moving beyond home and my nearby grocery store. HIST30060.
• 
  2020-07-05

  The Life-Giving Locale

  This is the Moonee Ponds Drain. Concrete behemouth. Primary function: transport storm water to the Bay via the Maribyrnong River. Secondary functions (that came to light under lockdown): bike path, rollerblading circuit, mushroom foraging field, freeway viewing platform, late night extension of the lounge room during household parties, study break spot, skate park, graffiti canvas, shortcut to nearby suburbs, and shopping cart disposal pit. This place truly brings the community together. HIST 30060
• 
  2020-11-09

  2020: The Year of The Ring of Steel and Shaggy Dogs

  In the series of images depicted above, I portray the imminent changes to both my life and the lives of those I love. The stage three lockdown which dawned on the 8th of July 2020 somewhat replicated a tale of two cities. A ‘Ring of Steel’ enforced between metro and regional Victoria separated a state in the grip of a deadly second wave. For me personally, 2020 changed my life in two notable ways; my two worlds were separated, and as droll as it sounds, I couldn’t get my dog a haircut. The ring of steel meant that I was separated from both my family property and my boyfriend who lives in Regional Victoria, although we could still visit one another it just didn’t feel the same. Like going through customs at an airport you are grilled on your reasons for travelling into a regional zone, and the answer of visiting a partner seemed to also evoke a multitude of other questions confirming the validity of the aforementioned statement. This however was all very necessary as there are regions of Victoria that haven’t even seen one single case of COVID since it reached Australia in January 2020. My first image was taken one day upon my return to Melbourne from seeing my boyfriend in regional Victoria and epitomises how even back in April, COVID-related precautions were widespread. Whilst my second photograph pinpoints the outage which the Vic Roads change of address function encountered a day prior to the announcement of the ‘Ring of Steel’ on July 9, 2020. The third photo is a government document and summary of those restrictions that were also outlined from this date onwards. Stage 4 restrictions also meant that all non-essential services were shut to combat the unnecessary spread of the virus, and this included dog groomers. Our West Highland White Terrier Angus was certainly thankful for this as sitting still is not his strong point, but it also meant that he could hardly see with his hair growing over his eyes like a veranda. There were calls from the RSPCA to re-open these services to the public earlier as they had treated a number of grisly injuries from owners attempting at home cuts on their pooches. Whilst a number of petitions were also got up by dog groomers who were more concerned about the welfare of the animals rather than the business aspect. With continuous lobbying, the efforts of the animal welfare community paid off and on the 28th of September they were able to resume services, a far cry from October 26th the original date outlined. The fourth and fifth photo depicts Angus before and after his much-needed haircut in early October.
• 
  2020-03-17

  Empty Pasta Shelves

  When Australia first got hit with news of how devastating Covid-19, many people went onto a panic-buying frenzy, stockpiling non-perishable essential items. This is a photo taken at my local Woolworths with the pasta shelves completely gutted. Toilet paper, rice, hand sanitizer, yeast and hand soap were equally cleared out. Some stores went as far as to post signs out the front of their stores stating "NO TOILET PAPER AVAILABLE". As a young person who lives away from home, my regular diet consists of a lot of pasta (also because pasta is delicious). During this time I ended up eating a lot more vegetable soups, because ironically fresh fruit and vegetables supplies weren't particularly affected by the virus or panic buying as they wouldn't last in an impending apocalypse. It took about a month for grocery stores to re-configure their supplies, and the for the panic to die down slightly. When this first happened, the essential items were piled high front and centre at the entrance of the store: I walked in to this same Woolworths one day with a tower of 24-pack toilet pack stacked as tall as I was. This object shows how crowds can react in unexpected and instinctually self-defensive ways when threatened with a large and sweeping danger. HIST30060.
• 
  2020-07-26

  Dogs send love

  HIST30060 During COVID it was definitely a comfort for many to have their pets. Whilst the world was figuratively and literally burning down around us, the unconditional love and easy needs of caring for a dog brought a small moment of respite in the day. A dog will always enjoy a treat. It makes one think about the perspective of dogs during this time. For my dog, Goliath, he now gets to see me every single day, compared to me leaving at 7 in the morning and arriving home at 4pm (sometimes later) when I was studying on campus. And he gets more walks because leaving the house with him was some of the only times we actually got to leave the house. A dog will always enjoy a walk. Just having another creature near you who enjoys the little things and isn't weighed down by the dread and despair of the pandemic and who I get to share the company of really helps.
• 
  2020-11-08

  Masks masks masks

  HIST30060 This photograph is of the variety of the face masks used by myself and my sister throughout this pandemic. I like how it shows the variation in information that was received by "Dan the Man", Premier Daniel Andrews. First, any type of mask was allowed to be used (including some single-layer ones seen here). Then the recommendation was triple-layered masks. And now, face shields are not allowed to be worn. Not that my sister or I ever actually wore the face shield - that was given to us by our grandmother. Actually, all of the masks we have were sewed by our grandmother. For that, I am grateful because it saved us from having to deal with the rush of finding and purchasing masks after were made mandatory. I like to think that if people time travelled to today from even a year ago, they would question such an odd fashion choice. And that is what they have become for a lot of people, a fashion choice. I recall seeing during the Melbourne Cup a lot of co-ordinated masks with outfits, and they have opened an avenue for people to display their interests on their face. A new and unexpected way for people to connect, even as our expressions are being masked. All I can say is that I'm grateful for the majority of Melbournians taking to these masks, and even though we had our fair share of "Bunnings Karen," we are far better off than other countries.
• 
  2020-11-05

  Church in Williamstown, Victoria, Australia

  The Williamstown Church of Christ put up a sign on the front fence to advertise food hampers and online services that are being provided during the lockdown. On the right of the image, in front of the reflective building, you may be able to see a grey box. This is a pantry where members of the public can leave their groceries for others to collect. 37°51'17.8"S 144°53'50.5"E HIST30060
• 
  2020-11-05

  A Thriving Glass Factory, Melbourne

  The glass factory is in the middle of Spotswood, a suburb close to central Melbourne. The factory produces glass containers for many products including baby food, vegemite, beer, wine, jam, and kombucha. They have been very busy this year, thanks to panic buying. One staff member stated that production had been high since March 2020, just like it was in Christmas 2019, the peak season for glass production. Glass bottles are made around Australia as they are quite difficult to transport, so they cannot be outsourced to overseas manufacturers. This facility has around 100 staff. In these images you can see some staff having a break out the front of the business. They are wearing masks in accordance with Victorian (state) laws. In the other image you can also see that the workplace is taking temperature checks to reduce the risk of virus transmission. 37°49'49.5"S 144°53'30.5"E HIST30060
• 
  2020-11-05

  COVID Recovery for Local Hospitality - Victoria, Australia

  Metropolitan Melbourne is emerging from its second lockdown. Here you can see workers laying artificial turf out the front of some hospitality venues. The turf covers car parks, but it will increase the outdoor seating capacity of these venues. This will stimulate the small businesses and reduce the risk of virus transmission, as customers will sit outside rather than inside. I believe that the approach here is modeled on the Open Restaurants initiative of NYC, USA. 37°51'47.5"S 144°54'17.0"E
• 
  2020-11-04

  Happy 21st

  HIST30060 A person’s 21st birthday (whilst not as big a deal in Australia as other countries) is still considered an important milestone. I, like many other people in Melbourne, had the pleasure of experiencing my 21st birthday in lockdown. Friends were not invited. Family could not visit. Instead, I spent the day at home with only myself, my sister and my dog. I feel like this picture accurately represents what the time was like. Dead. Not literally, of course, but life had grinded to a halt during this period. And yet, that day was one of my happiest. Maybe because it gave an excuse for people to contact me. A theme I think runs through a lot of the pandemic. Because we could not meet physically, social interaction through technology became a lot more prevalent. And who doesn’t love being sent cupcakes?
• 
  2020-09-28

  Noticing the little things

  Like many people, I've been spending a lot more time in my back yard this year. Once the weather started getting nice enough our household and the neighbours all seemed to have the idea to start barbequing, just for something different to do, and we often had barbeques going in three back yards along at the same time. One such day I spotted two baby wattlebirds in the tree. I spent a good few hours that day, and the next few, just watching them and their parents feeding them, I even saw their first flight. It's something I never could have imagined spending so long doing before the pandemic, so I guess you could call that a positive of the experience. (HIST30060)
• 
  2020-09-28

  Reunited at last

  Once restrictions started to lessen in Victoria following our second wave, it became common to use sites that calculated the radius we could travel from our homes to figure out if we could meet up with friends outside or walk somewhere different. In the later part of September in Melbourne, our permitted radius was 5km and we could meet up in groups of two for exercise or leisure outside for up to two hours. They had also just announced we could exercise within the same radius of our workplaces (if you were a 'permitted worker') which meant one of my circles overlapped with my best friend. This meant I could finally see her in person for the first time since June and the second time since March. (HIST30060)
• 
  2020-03-16

  Virtual Campus

  I first heard my university would be transitioning to online teaching through the uni magazine's Facebook page on the 16th of March, an email from the uni following soon after. This felt appropriate for a time when decisions were being made in a seemingly hectic fashion and there was still so much speculation about how worried we needed to be and what measures needed to be taken. There had been 14 new cases of COVID-19 in Victoria on that date and the total number of cases in the state was 71. The photograph is of the deserted University of Melbourne campus in September when we were into our second semester of online teaching and Victoria was in it's second wave of the pandemic. It was eerie to see this area of the campus, usually filled with students socialising on the grass, so empty. (HIST30060)
• 
  2020-05-08

  Neighbourhood entertainment

  Early in the Covid 19 lockdown I found these notes posted on telephone poles along my path to the train station. I later heard a rumour that they'd been sighted all the way along the local bike path. Whether the story they tell is real or not I love that someone in the neighbourhood was providing a story for the community to follow on their daily walks. It felt like following an old fashioned newspaper serial. We've all had to find new forms of entertainment, and since gyms shut down and people started working from home, people seem to have been taking up walking like never before. (HIST30060)
• 
  2020-11-05

  Lethargic Lockdown

  HIST30060 - In reviewing this 'plague' year, I feel that there can be no simple way of explaining the whirlwind of emotions that seemed to fluctuate just as readily and sporadically as our daily covid- case numbers did back in April and May. My first uploaded image is a photograph I took of a note that was found in our letterbox in Balwyn, which we received on the 7th of April. Later we discovered it was made by two younger girls who lived at the bottom of our street, who had been writing similar letters for all our neighbours too! I felt it was very important in this unprecedented time to cherish the small acts of kindness, particularly given the emotional state of lockdown. Despite their relative insignificance, it is these small communal acts which I will cherish, which keep us connected to those around us, while ironically social distancing at the same time. Similarly, the young sisters who made the card are the same age as my niece, 9 years old. I often look at this card and think of how their youth has been irrevocably changed in this pandemic. My second image is a photo I took of Mills beach in Mornington on the 31st of July. I think it will always remind me of the occasion where I snuck down to the Beach, on the premise of doing some 'maintenance' at a family property, which was what I explained to the police who were patrolling the highway. My father has had his bouts with pneumonia in the past, so the family decided that if he could conduct his work from home, then it would be best to get of Melbourne. So my mum and dad were staying down the in Mornington from late March and came back to Melbourne around the start of November. Although we would routinely call eachother on zoom, this photo in a way commemorates the time where I had to sneak down to the beach in order to see them. Though a beautiful sunset at mills beach, there also is a sense of morbid beauty and unease to the photo. It was the only time I think I have ever seen such beautiful weather and calm water, with no boats or people in sight. The third image is a screenshot from a facebook invitation to a party which was created in early March. The guys that made the group event had originally planned to host a get together by December. I think in a sense this does give some explanation in regards to the expectations of corona, and the hysteria that was surrounding it in early March. I think as explained in the screenshot, although we didn't know what to expect, all we did know was that "the next few months are gonna be very long." Recently they updated the invitation from a party that will maybe happen in March next year. Although it may be some form of normality to look forward to, I think that this year more than any other we have learnt to prepare for the worst. Though it is currently listed to go ahead around March next year, part of me thinks it will be delayed again. My fourth image is a screenshot I took from an instagram page called "melb_lockdown," which was created in early April this year. It is an instagram page that features many artful collections of the Melbourne CBD area in black and white photographs. As one who often indulges in photography myself, I think the artist behind the instagram page is always trying to send a message with his work. I think what strikes me most is naturally seeing images of one of the 'most liveable' cities in the world, which is now devoid of the very things that have have given the city it's -claim-to-fame.' The once frenetic energy and vibrancy of the busy Melbourne CBD is now lifeless, colourless, and painfully mundane. My last image, is a meme that a friend of mine sent me. Similarly it is a an Instagram page called 'Covid 19 Funny Memes.' Though very funny, it also highlights a lot of the communal attitudes that have fluctuated and changed through out the pandemic. In late February/ early March, I believe that because it the pandemic was largely still a distant story that was affecting Europe more readily and Australia, it was something we really engaged in a kind of hysteria with. Because we hadn't experienced it, it was something we couldn't truly understand. Certainly these sought of humorous memes were not being created back then. But now I feel having lived with the pandemic for the last 8-9 months, people's attitudes have altered so much. I think because we are now more prepared to satirise, mock or create humorous memes is not to suggest that we have become apathetic towards the pandemic, but I think it shows that we are 'over it.' I think now living with this shadow over our lives for 8 months has taken its toll, and humour may be one way we can attempt to disassociate ourselves from this monotonous cycle.
• 
  2020-08-29

  Building of the house next door: progression

  These are two images of the house being built on the block behind us. Due to us being home all of the time, we have been able to see the slow progress of the house being built. I was looking at this house being built so often, to the point where it wasn’t until two months later that I actually noticed just how much progress had been made. To me, these photos signify the daily repetition of our lives during the pandemic, especially during the lockdown periods. The picture showing the least amount of progress was taken on August 29, 2020 and the one showing more progress was taken on October 30, 2020. HIST30060
• 
  2020-09-24

  Adopting Nugget the Pug

  This is my housemate’s dog, Nugget aka Nug. Despite my housemate wanting a dog before the pandemic began, she realised that between working and being a fulltime student that she wouldn’t have the time to train a puppy. However, due to the pandemic we have spent more time at home than we ever have before, meaning we could train Nug without worrying about leaving him alone while we were at university or work. Nug has brought joy to our household, providing lots of laughs and endless cuddles. He has also made being at home every day far more bearable. HIST30060
• 
  2020-11-04

  A Rainbow

  HIST30060. The only time I would frequently leave my house during lockdown was to go and see my partner. I saw him for absolutely none of the first lockdown in Melbourne but would often see him during the second lockdown. He was only a quick train and a short walk away, so I consider myself lucky that I was able to see him at all. I pass this house every time I walk to his and it encourages children and adults alike to count all the rainbows. It became a part of my routine, each time I would go to his I would pass this house and would feel my day get just a little bit brighter. It was only recently that he told me there are other houses around his suburb like this, aiming to give children a little distraction if they happen to pass by. The lockdown was long but necessary, so it shows me that there's hope that there's still some good in this world, with strangers hoping to give one another a distraction and a smile with a rainbow.
• 
  2020-10-28

  First Day Free

  HIST30060. The first day out of the second lockdown in Melbourne, Australia, I got invited to a picnic with friends from high school. We went to a park that was local to everyone and no one at the same time, having been going there for parties and gatherings for the past six years. This photo is of a café local to Yarraville in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Alfa Bakehouse backs right out onto the train station where I get off and the only reason I went passed it was to check if a froyo place I loved had yet reopened with other retail and hospitality businesses. To see this many people together was both exhilarating and uncomfortable at the same time. Knowing that freedom was finally in our grasp but the overlying fear that we could easily return to lockdown if we are not careful. I made my way to my friends shortly after this picture was taken and talked and ate for hours, even getting a sun burn, and it reminded me how all that time in lockdown was worth it if people can see one another again and enjoy their time together.
• 
  2020-07-03

  Filling the time whilst working in fast food

  HIST30060 During this year, I was luck enough to still be able to work in my fast food job due to the JobKeeper program, which saw the government paying the wages of part time and full time staff, as well as certain casuals. I would work 2 to 3 shifts a week in the city, which allowed me time to get out of the house and socialise with my coworkers. Restrictions meant we did not receive many customers, with our main source of income coming from the delivery platforms my boss installed. Despite this work, it did not mean I was able to escape the boredom most faced during the prolonged periods of restrictions, as there is only so much cleaning you can do in the periods where we had no customers. To fill the time, I began recreating famous paintings I could find online in miniature form, using the materials I could find in store, such as white board markers and receipt paper. Pictured here is my attempt at recreating Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ (bottom left), the ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ by Hokusai (right), and Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ (top left).
• 
  2020-08-18

  Image of a pigeon in store

  HIST30060 Despite quarantine restrictions, I was still able to work at my fast food job in the CBD. Pictured here is a pigeon who would come into our store looking for food in the quietest parts of the day, which were almost always due to the lack of people in the city. Whilst working in the city, I realised that most urban birds, including pigeons and seagulls, became very confident during the stricter quarantine periods. The lack of activity in the city meant they were not receiving the usual scraps they would receive from those travelling to and from their desk jobs. The birds became bold with their interactions with those who were coming to the city in order to gain the small amount of food they needed to survive. This small pigeon in our store is a good example of this. He would waltz in and munch on the oats that would land on our floor before we had time to clean them. Despite repeated attempts to shoo him outside, he would often walk around our floor before meandering outside again.
• 
  2020-10-28

  ‘I’m here for you’

  2020 is a difficult year, especially for someone like me staying alone in foreign lands. What frustrated me was not only the difficulties in life, but also loneliness and lost. I have no roommate in Melbourne. Therefore, after the 5km travel ban was issued, I rarely contact with the outside world. Not only that, many of my friends choose to defer their studies and stayed in their mother country due to the plague so I gradually lost contact with them. In this case, speak to my classmates on the tutorial became almost the only way for me to communicate with the outside world. I am not ready to face this situation, and these sudden changes made me so depressed. Social distancing between men made me feel ignored and isolated, and I even considered about postponing my studies. Until a few days ago, I found some cards (as in the photo) from my apartment’s common zone. On the front page of the card there is ‘I’m here for you’, and residents could leave their contact information on the card to people who want to make new friends. I take one of the cards and left my message. Although I have not contacted that person so far, I can feel the kindness from strangers, and the support there makes me believe that everything will be fine. #HIST30060
• 
  2020-10-18

  Care after 5km

  A friend of mine had a rough week. She lives down the coast, well out of my 5km play pen (the distance we Melbournians can travel from home). The phone calls are fine, but can be draining and don't replace a supportive hug. Feeling a bit helpless as a friend, I put together an hour of music I thought she'd find comforting. Diversifying the kinds of connections we keep up has been relieving in that way. Low pressure interaction, much like spending time in person when it is relaxed, calm, and conversation will bounce off stimuli in the world, is hard to replicate digitally. I've really stepped up my playlist game these days. She loved it. HIST30060
• 
  2020-04-12

  Jewish Melbourne - The Year Without A Garden

  I love to garden. And especially our community garden. We started small and watched it grow year by year. The friendships grew too. It was also a place where neighbor's walking their dogs or just out for a stroll could pause, admire the colors and aromas - a bit of peace in an increasingly stressful world. This year, restrictions governing social distancing and community gatherings prohibited us from working on our garden. The pandemic had taken yet another joy from our lives.
• 
  2020-07-16

  Signs welcoming workers back to Chifley Tower, an office building in the centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

  This photograph indicates measures taken to celebrate the easing of pandemic-related restrictions on the gathering of people in commercial settings.
• 
  2020-05-26

  Homeless being turned away as cool weather pushes Safe Space shelter to capacity

  As Tasmanians, saturated in the flood of online media content, look on at the state of the world, feelings range from extreme anxiety, compassion with those in crisis centres, to smug repose (“at least we are not in that country”). This last response seems particularly rife today, but it struggles to conceal an inherent coldness which we don’t otherwise normally like to attribute to ourselves. Not only does this attitude overlook that fact that we have our own dead, or that the cost of life is of a value that far outpaces numerical value (comparing our figures with death-tolls in other places), we ignore those without home in the very place in which all of us are meant to dwell together. Prior to the lockdown, Tasmania’s capital city Hobart underwent a housing crisis. But as we wait on Canberra to get things moving along - exactly as they were before or, even better than before - we should keep in mind that not everything is possible just because money is behind it. To return to the housing crisis: this challenges all of us to think about our responsibility towards those forgotten in our own home. Genuine responsibility begins with compassion, not money. I feel like, too often, we reverse the formula.
• 
  2020-03-29

  Pandemic Monopoly

  HUM402 The image depicts the creation of Pandemic Monopoly by a Hobart resident. The homemade board game uses toilet paper as currency, referring to the toilet paper shortage seen across Tasmanian supermarkets. The board game presents players with the opportunity to 'own' key Hobart locations. However, instead of mortgage, houses and hotels, the game allows players to buy hospitals and clinics to place on the properties. Centrelink, the Australian governments social security service, features heavily on the board game, indicating the rise in unemployment due to the pandemic. Whilst being used for comical purposes, the game also critiques the Tasmanian governments early handling of Covid-19 crisis via a chance card, which states "You have a fever, dry cough and Pneumonia to boot but despite having all of the symptoms, you haven't knowingly come into contact with a known carried so they won't test you for Covid-19. The Royal Hobart Hospital sends you home. Get out of iso [isolation] free." This refers to the Tasmanian government in early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic refusing to test individuals who had not been in contact with a known case, or had not left the country.
• 
  2020-05-05

  Free Parking During The Virus, Central Ballarat, Australia

  Illustrates Council's effort to reduce costs for necessary travel during period of social restrictions
• 
  2020-05-05

  Social Distancing Mural Ballarat Bakery Hill

  Mural illustrating social distancing during lockdown, Ballarat, Australia
• 
  2020-05-05

  Plague Doctor Mural Ballarat Bakery Hill

  A mural in Bakery Hill, Ballarat, drawing comparison with earlier pandemics
• 
  2020-05-05

  Mural, Ballarat Bakery Hill 5 May 2020

  Two virus murals, long-distance shot, Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia
• 
  2020-04-08

  Street art using fence gallery.

  Everyone in the street invited to hang artworks about life in shutdown
• 
  2020-04-25

  Concert posters reinvented

  With the cancellation of mass gatherings including music concerts, street posters about music concerts suddenly stopped appearing. The poster in this location before these demonstrated exact how far you need to stand to be 1.5 metres apart. Now an ad for making your will. Death is on people’s minds and I believe there has been a rush on people updating their wills.
• 
  09/04/2020

  The impact of COVID-19 on the UTas academic community

  HUM402 This is what the UTas Sandy Bay campus looks like in the time of COVID-19, a vacant cluster of buildings during the academic year.
• 
  2020-04-01

  Free herbs

  The things you see out on a neighbourhood walk — kids finding ways to be helpful.
• 
  2020-03-31

  Playground closed

  All the local playgrounds closed from today. This one is Rossi Reserve in Ford Street, Ivanhoe.
• 
  03/30/2020

  Empty street

  Shot from intersection of Seddon Street and Upper Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe take 6:30pm Monday when street would normally be packed with peak hour traffic.
• 
  2020-03-26

  COVID-19 and the Biggest Uprooting of my Life

  At this moment my partner and I are packing up our lives because of the COVID 19 pandemic. I think if we weren't both students we would feel a bit less anxious, but now with no work and no income to support ourselves, it's time to minimise and Marie Kondo this tiny unit and move an hour and a half away from our lives here in the South-East suburbs. While I am grateful to be moving away from what could become a more dangerous place to live, I'm remorseful and not really ready to leave my first house. It's quaint and while we are staying at home the garden is enclosed and peaceful. Here's hoping the spread will be slow enough so that we can move before we have issues getting food. Hopefully it doesn't get as bad here as it has in other countries.
• 
  2020-03-24

  Almost three years old Roger, socially isolated in a playground.

  A young child not yet three years old plays alone in a playground inside a park; usually there are several children with their carers playing here at any given time of the day, one day into lock down here and the park and playground is deserted.
• 
  2020-03-23

  Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne, looking West

  Showing Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne. Sales on in the major department stores but no one around to buy it.
• 
  2020-03-23

  Self-isolation desk

  As an Australian who has just arrived back from overseas (Thailand) on 20 March 2020, I am required to self-isolate for 14 days. As I am sharing a small one-bedroom inner urban apartment. I need to stick to my own room, while my fellow inhabitant lives in the lounge room. I’m also a PhD student in the final throes of trying to get my thesis done and do various casual research jobs at two different universities. This is my makeshift desk set up at the side of the bed to enable me to hopefully get some work done throughout this uncertain period. I also have a tiny 1.5mx2m space set up on the other side of the bed to try to do some yoga during the isolation period.