Thursday 2 September 2010

Elizabeth Bay - The beauty of crumbling age


Elizabeth Bay is like an ageing matron who wastes before one’s eyes. With hay-stalk hair, and sagging bosom, she slashes the lipstick where once fulsome lips puckered. Desperate for that one last fling at the ball, she throws herself at everyone, but only the rapacious are remotely interested.


The footings of each apartment building cling to the rocky outcrops of the ridge that runs down to the Bay. The footings cling, the buildings huddle – and, together, they slowly subside. The suburb is peopled with the ageing bodies of European mid-century devastation. They are the character and the soul of the suburb, but they are rapidly diminishing. It is a suburb of those without dependants – families need space. The pleasures of Elizabeth Bay reside in this very jumbledness. It is a melange of buildings, of styles, of socioeconomics, and of culture. Most emphatically of all, it is NOT boring.

23 comments:

Janice said...

Engaging pictures and commentary...

Linnea said...

Fabulous! I love your description as much as the photos!

BlossomFlowerGirl said...

Wonderful architecture of those old properties. Your descriptive words are charming.
Cheers,
Melbourne Daily Photo

jabblog said...

Tsk! You wait your whole life to be considered mature and then no-one wants you. Lovely old buildings. The subject in the last photo is so elegant.

John (@bookdreamer) said...

Engaging pictures and evocative commentary. My G is a poem about goodbye. Thank you if you voted for me to be a blog of note last week. Hope your week goes well

Anonymous said...

Great images and superb detail. Together with a good read. The top shot is tops for me.

Jim said...

It's an amazing house. Not so impressed by some of the apartments blocks around there.

Unknown said...

Wonderful!

Anonymous said...

We walked the local streets a few years ago. It is a jumble and so interesting. There is nowhere like that in Melbourne.

Bruce Caspersonn said...

And those photos and text aren't boring either.

Petrea Burchard said...

Your photos are as descriptive as your wonderful prose.

Peter said...

A great area - full of character.

Virginia said...

They are as wonderful as your photographs always are. I am drawn to top and bottom. Paris???? :)

I'm thinking your trip is coming up. Please email me the details so I can savor them!
V

Joan Elizabeth said...

I've never really liked that part of the city that much but you are helping me to like it more. The bookend photos are my favourites and the modern set of units yuk

Rinkly Rimes said...

What a glorious shot of the final window. The tracery of shadow softens the 'wrinkles'.

brattcat said...

and most emphatically, neither are YOU.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

Wonderful pictures and description - make me want to visit.

Thank you for your visit to my blog and your comment. In answer to your question about my grandsons, they live in Adelaide and I live in the UK! Sounds as though you have a new member of the family. How lovely. A

Jack said...

I'm going to have to disagree with your comment about aging women, for the record. I know too many aging women to let myself gush about your photos without first issuing a disclaimer. Great photos.

Julie said...

It was a song of love and appreciation, Jack!

lewi14@gmail.com said...

What wonderful and great shots. I like the last one very much. Great shadows!

Gunn said...

Great photos of great architecture!:)
very interesting, and I will remember this posting.

Julie said...

Thank you, Gunn. I value your opinion.

Anonymous said...

Hi Julie,
I'm researching Elizabeth Bay and Darling Point. Two of my characters live there - one in each suburb. Was wondering what house it is in the bottom shot. It's a wonderful photo!