Melbourne is well known for its super cool laneways littered with street art. Hosier Lane even boasted a Banksy until the local council accidentally cleaned it up, ooops. And as fast as the street art is painted, it is painted over in an ever competitive race to be the latest, greatest thing. The most popular spaces are ever evolving canvases for the creative and often thought provoking artists but here today is often gone tomorrow. Which is why I love sharing street views on Google Maps of the laneways. To capture a moment, to pin down and document the fleeting and often significant images before they fall prey to time, or council cleaners, is so rewarding. For the last few years I have had a keen interest in 360 degree photography but only just have the means to start documenting these works of art seriously.
After uploading my first photos of the aptly named Artist’s Lane, I was so excited to discover I could scrub through a time slider in Street View. It was like peeling back the layers of paint to reveal the past. I could explore in time as well as space! Google Maps suddenly became a tool of archaeology where I could excavate the cultural landscape as captured by my fellow explorers.
If you didn’t know that this was a feature of Google Maps then I hope that you find amusement in playing with it and seeing how things have changed over the years in your neighbourhood.
I will be regularly documenting the ever changing graffiti art street-scapes to archive and preserve them and to share them with you. Check back soon.