Jesse Marlow: Second City
“When I was at photography school, every few weeks our photojournalism teacher would send the class off into the city on “Citywalks”. With an otherwise open brief, our only task was to keep an eye out for interesting scenes or moments. The aim was for students to open their minds visually by exploring our home town. I was instantly hooked by the freedom and unpredictability of shooting in this style. After studying, I spent the next five years exploring the Melbourne CBD thoroughfares and surrounding suburbs, slowly compiling the body of work Second City. I would often start and finish my day by sitting on the steps of Flinders Street Station, observing people as they moved in and around the iconic entrance and out onto the streets. The station steps were a wonderful backdrop for a street photographer. The scope and simplicity of being in and around the city with only a camera and a pocket full of film, is essentially something I continue to enjoy 20 years later.”
Second City is a collection of 44 black and white candid street photographs from Jesse Marlow’s hometown Melbourne. Photographed between the years 1998-2004 the book depicts the city as it was before the boom of the mid-2000s. The book features a foreword by Melbourne author Tony Birch and has been designed by Yanni Florence.
Second City is on show at Leica Gallery Melbourne until the end of June 2021.
About the Author
Jesse Marlow is a Melbourne-based photographer. His works are held in public and private collections across Australia, including the National Gallery of Victoria, Australian Parliament House Canberra, Monash Gallery of Art, City of Melbourne, and State Library of Victoria.
In 2003, he published his first book of photographs, Centre Bounce: Football from Australia’s Heart, (Hardie Grant Books). Images from Centre Bounce have been exhibited and published extensively, both in Australia and internationally. In 2005, he published a book of street photographs, Wounded, (Sling Shot Press). In 2006, he was selected to participate in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in Amsterdam. While in 2010, Marlow was one of 45 street photographers from around the world profiled in the book, Street Photography Now (Thames & Hudson). He was awarded the International Street Photographer of the Year Award in 2011, and in 2012 won the Monash Gallery of Art’s Bowness Prize. Marlow released his third monograph, Don’t Just Tell Them, Show Them in 2014. In the same year, he was profiled in the Thames & Hudson book, The World Atlas of Street Photography.
Marlow is a member of both the international street photographers’ collective, UP Photographers and Institute Artists.
