GREATER MELBOURNE limited edition artist book.

Please help to make this project a reality by acquiring an exclusive limited-offer print!

From 2010 I drove all around Melbourne photographing and accumulating suburban typologies. I used the virtually obsolete medium of black and white film to capture fading institutions such as milk bars and newsagents.

In the course of these many travels, my attention was often piqued by unforeseen views. Gradually, and without any plan, a collection began to form. With my tongue in my cheek, I named it Greater Melbourne, after the street directory that was in every car glove-box before the advent of GPS devices. A selection of these was exhibited at Tolarno Galleries in 2013. In the nine years since I’ve continued tinkering and adding to both the selection and layout.

Suburban scenes have been a mainstay of my photographic practice since the 1970s. The work forms a downbeat alternate narrative to the “most liveable city in the world” worldview, presented with a “nod and a wink”.

Many of the photographs capture parts of Melbourne that remained the same for decades but are now on the cusp of change as development and population density transform the city.

To quote Prof. Patrick Pound, “Wadelton’s photographs of our city are part celebration, part salvage operation. They are in this, a vital contribution to our civic record and our artistic endeavour. Wadelton’s work stands proudly in a long line of photographers who have recorded urban architecture with enormous dedication and purpose: historical figures such as Charles Marville and Eugène Atget, Walker Evans and Bernd and Hiller Becher. However, Wadelton is perhaps not as clinical and classical in his describing of the built world as these forebears each of whom, more or less, aspired to be a Vitruvius of the vernacular. Wadelton takes all of these measures on board and adds a hint of a more playful meta-photographic element via his longstanding appreciation of the marvellously inventive Lee Friedlander and the equally intrepid Stephen Shore, and the so daft as to be cool and conceptual recording of Melbourne’s own, Robert Rooney. Tellingly, Wadelton’s seemingly neutral records are recognisable, personal signature records that are accessible to all. “

I have collated a collection of my favourite images from the series, to be published as a limited edition paperback. With your help, Greater Melbourne will be a 21x23cm paperback, 50 pages and limited to 100 signed and numbered copies. It will be published by M.33. My two previous books - Suburban Baroque (2019) and Small Business (2020) were also published by M.33.

Based in Melbourne and working collaboratively with artists and designers, M.33 specialises in contemporary photographic publishing with a focus on excellent design in the service of strong and thoughtful content.

M.33 have published some of Australia’s most interesting photographers including Jane Burton, Cherine Fahd, Yanni Florence, Darren Sylvester, Konrad Winkler, Peter Milne, Drew Pettifer, Rod McNicol, David Rosetzky and Janina Green.

Two photographs from the series are available at an exclusive fundraiser price of $220. Frankston North 2012 and St Albans 2014 are published in an edition of ten, 30 x 45 cm image size. They are printed using pigment ink on archival paper and are signed and numbered.

You can help to make this project a reality by acquiring an exclusive limited-offer print!

Printing.           $4000

Freight.            $1000

Total.                $5000