Gertrude Street, "The Second Coolest In The World"

This series is a documentation of Gertrude Street in Melbourne’s most lively suburb Fitzroy following its ranking in at the number two spot in Time Out’s ‘coolest streets in the world’. Eliza Campbell, Time Out Melbourne editor, describes the strip as “Fitz- roy funk, but with noticeable polish”.

Through candid street photography, this series uses the lense as a looking glass to discover just is meant by cool within this creative microcosm - from the “funk” to the “polish”. With found text online from comments on The Guardian to less politely inclined Redditers paired alongside the images, we can understand both the cynical opinions towards the article and the visual allure of the street. In this, the images act as a checklist of the somewhat humorously presumed criteria checked for awarding this title. From the stand out fashion choices to the plethora of shops which are always extravagant, this zine acts to highlight everything that if you lived in Melbourne, you would immediately recognise as so very Fitzroy... whether that’s a good thing or not might depend on your own opinion.