‘Last Light on Victoria Dock, 1999’

For 25 years, the timeless images of Melbourne’s historical marine passage have been hidden in a drawer and are waiting to emerge. Bill Mcauley is home to a new exhibition to do this.

In 1999, I read an article about Melbourne newspaper, a new city built on the edge of the CBD – Docklands – and immediately knew I wanted to capture the essence of the magnificent old Victoria dock before it was too late.

Then, the area was taken under the cord with fences and the deserted old dock was abandoned and not loved. I found this photo through a hole in the fence of wonder and equipped with my reliable Nikon, which once started to record the sacred and timeless beauty of the Vibrant harbor.

It was a magnificent experience: the tissues of wooden huts and crumbled piers, abandoned buildings in the afternoon and a gold glow on the water.

A magnificent old Topsail Schooner, Alma Doepel, the ghost against the fading light of the day was a bench. In addition to the role of once, an old fear of war was anchored. But not outside.

Tugboat (Bill Mcauley by image)

When I came back three days every week for the next 18 months to capture the fading time capsule, I fell in love with here because I constantly recorded its history.

When the blue light of the day caused the warm and rusty shades of the darkening twilights, I photographed every board, hut, boat and pier with love. It was more than a homework, a call, a passion and a privilege.

At the end of each session, when the sun fell out of sight, I sat down and dangled my feet on the water on the edge of a pier and immersed myself into the vibration of this calm and spiritual place. A meditation and connection to a slice of Melbourne’s passionate maritime history disappeared rapidly when the new city began to rise.

In the afternoon light (Picture by Bill Mcauley)

When I finished the shoot, the old Dockland almost gone – a new live and moving place was spread from his ashes.

I put the transparents I pulled in a drawer and let them glide for 25 years, patiently waited for “the right time”.

Now, printed and framed, 50 of these images will be included in a photo exhibition at the Docklands Magnet Galleri on September 4th. ‘Victoria Dock Last Light in 1999’. (Detail HERE.) A beautiful printed book of these historical images (available HERE) will be started in the exhibition.

Every photographer knows that photography images grow in power over time. In this case, I hope it is definitely worth waiting.

**This photo is part of a iA Award -winning photojournalist Bill Mcauley’s lens. **

More than 40 years of Bill Mcauley’s news career began in 1969 as a student photographer in ‘Age’ in Melbourne. ‘Portraits of the Spirit: Bill Mcauley with a lifetime images’ has a few collections published. Click to see more than Bill Here.

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