PEOPLE WATCHING, MELBOURNE. – EMILY CONLIN

The art of people watching. It is something we all do, whether it is in a busy café while you wait for your morning coffee or maybe it is at the library as you feel yourself fall deeper into procrastination. I had this in mind as I took this photo of Jonah, modelling perfectly in RMIT’s main library.

Melbourne is perfect for people watching as there are people almost everywhere, especially around RMIT where these photographs were taken. Taking turns with my two group members, Jonah and Ziggy, we ventured out with a single camera and began to capture these people caught up in their own lives. Now, taking perfect photos isn’t an easy task, especially when your subject is a stranger out the front of the State Library.

All three of us looked at each other nervously. Who was to take the photo of this well dressed man holding a bible? Who was going to ask him for his permission? It was Ziggy who took the reigns and captured the polite man who was nothing less than a delight. When finding people willing to snap proved its challenges, we enjoyed showcasing the beautiful architecture found within RMIT’s city campus. The windows found on these buildings in particular created a template for how we could capture the busy university student on their way too or from class on that busy Tuesday afternoon. Seen as almost a silhouette within the walls of Building 10, the subject watched us as he walked past, and disappeared as quickly as he appeared. He too, was people watching.