Every country has that city suburb that every citizen knows by name. Australia has several - Bondi in Sydney, South Bank in Brisbane and Collingwood in Melbourne. Till January 2018, the only reference I had for Collingwood was their AFL team, one of the oldest, most influential and most hated sports teams in Australia - hardly a reason to visit the area. Then, a day after flying in from Germany, my wife and I caught the train into Melbourne central and looked out the window amazed as we rolled above a wonderful looking vintage suburb. The train literally runs 'over' Collingwood and all we could see was a maze of big old trees, rusty metal rooftops and lovely old cars. Looking out the other side of the train, we could see the shiny skyscrapers of Melbourne's CBD. It made no sense! We had to get out and explore.
We certainly weren't disappointed. It didn't matter that I found out later that the Collingwood train stop isn't really in Collingwood or that the boundaries are so strange that we never knew when we were or weren't in this quirky city-within-a-city. It was enough that the spirit of the place is so wonderfully well preserved and the people so friendly that even as the rain came down, we didn't want to leave. As we talked to the residents, it is exactly that 'vibe' that they are trying to protect. One lovely older lady told us, "They (the authorities) are sneaking changes in. They tell us we need new water pipes so they rip up the roads and prepare pipes for large developments. Of course it also gives them an excuse to tow away the unused old cars. It's changing and there's really not much we can do about it."
We hope Collingwood can keep its charm for a long time to come. Such little corners of cities make them interesting and help to maintain a connection to the cultural background. Walking through Collingwood is a wonderful experience for anyone who enjoys looking at life as it was, and still is for several thousand inhabitants.
Leica M4 | Elmar 50mm 2.8 | Ilford HP5 @ 800 | Kodak D76 1:1 @20° 16:30
