CHASING GHOSTS

"That One Shot" The Melbourne Street Art Photography Award. 

Over the last few years the Melbourne street Art Scene has exploded with amazing work from local and international talent. This in turn has inspired hundreds of photographers to find creative ways to capture the evolution of Melbourne's streets.

In 2013 we are calling on the photographers of Melbourne to submit their favourite single shot as part of "That One Shot" Melbourne's first Street Art Photography Award.

A panel of industry judges will select the winning shots from a short list of the best 12 entries. First and second prize packs and a "Peoples Choice" award will be presented to participants on the night of the event. 

We have a excellent range of sponsors involved in the event that will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Fish Eye Friday: Fitzroy. 

NOTHING BUT NET. 

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency. 

On the edge of Clifton Hill there is a Basketball Court. Over the years this unassuming court has been treated to layers upon layers of work from some of Melbourne's finest.

Recently the F1 Crew, along with some visiting international artists, painted a huge mural spanning the entire length of the court. 

This has to be one of the largest and most cohesive murals that we have seen on this court. One of our favorite pieces has to be the crazy graff monkeys by Malaysian artist KATUN. 

Fish Eye Friday: MAYONAIZE.

Local writer Mayo smashed out some killer hand styles as part of a art project allowing artists from all over to go to town on Melbourne's otherwise boring Electrical boxes.

BOX HILL. 

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency. 

The walls that line Box Hill station remind us of so many sections of rail lines across Eastern Europe, with their mish mash of tags, throw ups and old and new pieces. 

ARTCRUSH'N.

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency. 

As you would expect, the further out of the city you go, graffiti coverage becomes a lot more spread out. There is some amazing work to be seen, yet sometimes you have to go searching for it. 

A great example is this epic mural tucked away in a very unassuming lane in Melbourne's South East. 

The alley starts off with a huge elephant by Gent48 who has been doing killer work all over Melbourne lately. Below Gent is a piece from REWS followed by a burning Oriental mask by Putos, a artists that you don't typically see on this side of town. 

DOWN FOR YOUR HOME TOWN.

Written as part of 'Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency. 

I am one half of Chasing Ghosts and I grew up out in Western Sydney. I have been shooting graffiti in every facet of my city since the mid 90's. After Chasing Ghosts traveled the world together documenting the global scene, it was really nice for us to visit my hometown and explore some of my favorite spots.

FOOTSCRAY.

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency.

Footscray is a area where modern development and old fashioned bombing clash head on. From ground level, the facades and shutters of the shops are littered with tags, stickers and dubs from just about every local writer. Yet when you look above the roofs of this very typical Victorian shopping promenade you get a glimpse of this areas future, huge high rise apartment complexes. 

ITS A SINCH

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency.

If you live in Melbourne, or have ever visited the city, you will have seen the work of SINCH. For over 10 years this writer has hit millions of spots, it seems like there are very little streets that have escaped SINCH's distinctive tag. 

Lately what has been catching our eye are the huge and pretty much obnoxious extinguisher bombs that have been coating shop fronts, roof tops, parking lots and everything else in between. 

NIGHT&DAY

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency.

When we went out for a evening stroll through St Kilda, the last people were expecting to bump into are Dabs & Myla. The legendary duo had come down to St Kilda to meet up with fellow artists DVATE and Method to paint the legal walls just off Acland Street.

CLIFTON HILL. 

Written as part of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency. 

SEEKING ASYLUM.

Written as park of "Street Art Sunday" for Just Another Agency. 

When chatting with other photographers about great locations that you have shot around Melbourne and the subject of an Abandoned Mental asylum comes up, we were automatically intrigued. 

The location in question is Larundel Mental Asylum. Digging a little deeper, we found that this was not just a institution for the Mentally ill, but a significant piece of of Victoria's history.

Construction of the building started in the late 1930's with the intention to becoming a mental heath facility, yet during the war it was used as temporary housing, a military hospital and training facility. It wasn't until the 1950's that it was finally utilized as an asylum and at its peak housed up to 750 patients across four main buildings. 

INSA. 

One of our favorite UK artists, INSA has finally arrived on our shores. INSA's presence in Melbourne has reminded us of the days when we would chase down graffiti and street art in London. It was a sticker that we first spotted in the suburb of Angel, we couldn't quite figure out what the image was but we were intrigued.

 We hunted down this image, finding walls and doorways in Shoreditch that were painted from top to bottom with the same image but repeated creating a hypnotic pattern. It wasn't until we saw a canvas coupled with a pair of sneakers in a gallery show painted by the artist, that we finally took notice of what the design was and what the artist was all about.    

INSA's anonymity, being faceless makes you forget about the person behind the spray can and allows you to get lost in the subject matter of the work and any INSA fan knows this can be highly addictive.  

Geelong Freights.

Written as part of "Street Art Sundays" for Just Another Agency. 

Painting trains is a huge part of the origins of graffiti, inspired by the style made famous by the New York Subway writers, artists all over the world infiltrated train stations and holding yards to bust out work of their own. 

Over the years, there have been huge crack downs by the authorities in an attempt to put a end to train writing. This is particularly evident here in Melbourne where the penalties are some of the harshest in Australia, so seeing a painted train running the lines these days can be a rarity. 

The freight lines are a different story all together. With yards containing hundreds of carriages, security is stretched thin, giving writers much more time to get up. As the carriages are being used for commercial purposes, there is no point in the freight companies spending the money buffing the trains so pieces can stay untouched for years. 

INSA.

Written as part of "Street Art Sundays" for Just Another Agency. 

One of our favorite UK artists, INSA has finally arrived on our shores. INSA's presence in Melbourne has reminded us of the days when we would chase down graffiti and street art in London. It was a sticker that we first spotted in the suburb of Angel, we couldn't quite figure out what the image was but we were intrigued.

 We hunted down this image, finding walls and doorways in Shoreditch that were painted from top to bottom with the same image but repeated creating a hypnotic pattern. It wasn't until we saw a canvas coupled with a pair of sneakers in a gallery show painted by the artist, that we finally took notice of what the design was and what the artist was all about.