A couple of years ago (or so I thought) I started an occasional project to document the local area, particularly small retail outlets (stores, restaurants, cafes, and the like). Why those places? Because they're quite often urban markers. You go down a street that you haven't been to for a couple of years, and you know that SOMETHING is different but aren't sure what, or when it changed. To be able to look back at what was once there can provide a sense of perspective.

The project was thus intended to preserve a "feel" for a place. It may not matter 6 months or a year from now, but the popularity of "retro" photography sites shows that there is an interest in how a place was 10, 20, 30 years ago. For the people who were there at the time, it's a memory. For the people who weren't, it's an insight into what once was.

Also when it comes to places like the Northern Illawarra, it'll serve as a memory of how things were before Wollongong Council starts authorising 25 storey high apartment blocks "for the diversity, amenity and beauty of the area as well as the developers' bank accounts, oops, did we say that last bit out loud?"

(Yeah, you WISH I'm kidding.)

Yesterday morning I drove past some shops that I thought would be ideal candidates for the series and decided to go out to shoot them this morning. This, over the howling protests of the cat that she needed breakfast first, and that failing to provide it was a violation of her feline rights. Yes, it was only 05:40 at the time, but belly time is different to AEST.

This is Thirroul Collective, an eclectic homewares / clothing store which seems to focus on environmental products. Before 2014, this entire building was a local hardware store. It closed that year and the building was divided into a series of smaller stores; clothing stores, a Vinnies op shop, a pizza delivery place, a café and surf shop and... this place. It does look exceptionally inviting in the pre-dawn light.

When I processed the photos, I looked back at past shots and found that I started the Little Shops sub-project in... 2014.

Eight. Years.

I did a few in 2015, then it slid into one of those "So I've got this thing planned and yeah, maybe next weekend I'll do it" ideas. Clearly, with several things that I've had planned for a while, a bit more "in the now", and a bit less "in the future" might be a better choice.

Little Shops I


Little Shops II


Little Shops III


Little Shops IV