Melbourne MX

Returning to Where the Experiment Began

Some photography projects begin with a clear idea. Others begin simply as an experiment.

Melbourne MX was definitely the latter.

The idea started during a trip to Hong Kong in 2024. After visiting the Hong Kong Museum of Art and seeing a photography exhibition featuring multiple exposure, I became fascinated by the possibilities of layering images within a single frame.

Over the next couple of days, I started experimenting with the lines, shapes and textures of Hong Kong's buildings. Windows, balconies, signs and architectural patterns became the raw material for something less literal and more impressionistic.

That experiment eventually became Hong Kong MX, which I wrote about after returning home.

Read: Hong Kong MX

Bringing the Experiment to Melbourne

After Hong Kong, I wanted to continue exploring this style of photography in Melbourne.

The approach evolved. Instead of focusing mainly on architecture, I began layering lines, shapes, movement and people. A building could become a texture, while a passing person could become another shape within the composition.

The aim wasn't necessarily to create a recognisable record of a place. I was more interested in what would happen when different moments were combined into a single image.

Some worked. Some didn't. But the experimentation was part of the process.

These photographs were taken in 2024, but somehow they ended up buried on my hard drive. A few were later exhibited as part of a group exhibition in Kew in early 2025, but the series itself was never properly published.

Since then, I've continued exploring multiple exposure photography through other projects, experimenting further with light, movement, people and layers.

Looking back at these Melbourne images now, I can see them as an important part of that journey.

The Hong Kong photographs were where the idea began. Melbourne was where I started to make it my own.

It's interesting to revisit work from a couple of years ago and see the beginnings of ideas that have continued to develop. These images may be an earlier chapter, but they remind me that photographic projects don't always develop in a straight line.

Sometimes, moving forward means looking back at where you started.