The intersection of La Trobe and William Streets outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court and County Court is a dynamic location, where the convergence of people and professions form a fascinating civic dance.
I had been wanting to document the Melbourne solicitors — with their fancy gowns, collars, and collarettes — something I never paid much attention to growing up here. Back visiting – it’s suddenly ever clear that I won’t find scenes like this in American cities like New York. So I decide to stop and hang out for a while now and then as I walk around the city looking for interesting scenes.
Here, journalists and news crews from TV channels like the ABC, 9, 7, and 10, jostle for a comment as a fraudster leaves the court. Suited-up barristers and solicitors rush to and from court, occasionally taking a quick break to puff away on their cigarettes — or chat with a colleague.
Meanwhile, businesspeople hurry past with their faces buried in their phones, and law clerks scurry around with legal documents and fee books from offices to various courtrooms. It occurs to me how much this intersection is a true representation of the diversity and complexity of modern society and class.
The seed of this idea came from the legendary American photographer, Garry Winogrand. In the 1960s and 70s, Winogrand documented the role of the media in American society, capturing images of photographers, reporters, and TV crews at work. Winogrand’s images often depicted the media in action, and I have also been by documenting journalists at work in New York City for the past year or so now.
