Hosier Lane

Hosier Lane is a landmark Melbourne laneway, featuring wall to wall street art and graffiti. The art is constantly changing and can provide some spectacular backgrounds. It even has it’s own website here. There are always a few tourists and visitors checking it out. You can expect a lot of DSLRs with kit lenses pointing everywhere in the afternoons. Get there early in the morning if you want to avoid people. Make sure you walk around the back of Rutledge Lane to explore more street art. There are often different creative projects being executed in the lane – when taking these location roughs, there was a student-looking film crew there filming a budget hulk style clip.

Just be careful to avoid anyone updating art with spray cans – the paint mist can travel a reasonable distance and ruin lenses and cameras pretty easily. The art is variable – there is some standard typography style work, which is not to my personal taste. But there are some wonderful pieces to see if you look carefully.

The challenge with locations like Hosier Lane is adding to the subject matter in your image. Starting out, it is tempting to just shoot cool looking things. Monuments, sculptures, street art etc. are all aesthetically pleasing – but just documenting them is not enough. Don’t just rely on the vision of the person who created the subject, challenge yourself to add something to it in your composition.

Make sure you bring a wide angle lens.

Here are some location roughs :

You can find Hosier Lane on Google Maps here.