Lesley is an artist and photographer based in Melbourne, Australia. Her personal projects explore the beauty in the everyday, capturing both people on the street and the urban landscape.
In addition, her mixed-media collage works are inspired by abstraction. With a focus on composition, texture and typography, these works are highly influenced by her graphic design background.
STATEMENT
Melbourne is my muse—a vibrant city layered with history, culture, and fleeting moments that shape the urban experience. My art practice encompasses photography, analogue collage, and digital photo montage techniques, deeply influenced by my background in graphic design. Through these mediums, I explore the overlooked details and emotional connections embedded in metropolitan life.
My photographic work captures the raw energy of Melbourne’s streets, celebrating the beauty in the mundane and the unobserved. From documenting interactions between people to exploring the effects of time—torn posters, peeling paint, faded signs, and graffiti—each image reflects fragments of urban stories. This theme is central to my ongoing documentary series, where I focus on capturing Melbourne’s ghost signs—faded advertisements that remain as quiet remnants of the city’s past.
I draw inspiration from these visual archives, using my original photographs as source material for my collage and photo montage work. By combining elements of typography, texture, and form, I create layered compositions that juxtapose color, structure, and materiality. Through an intuitive process of construction and deconstruction, I reimagine the cityscape through an abstract lens.
At its core, my practice seeks to expose and re-purpose the familiar and the overlooked. Whether it’s the hidden stories of Melbourne’s streets or the banality of everyday life, I aim to highlight the beauty in imperfection and invite viewers to form their own interpretations.
Through my art, I celebrate the vibrancy of Melbourne, the passage of time, and the emotional resonance found in the details of our shared environments.
Published work
Instaburb – 50 images of Australian Suburbia 2012
Place Magazine 2011 July Edition
Semi-Permanent Book 2011 – photograph from iCapture
Blanket Magazine 2011 December/January (Issue 25 – ‘The Celebration Issue’)
Blanket Magazine 2010 February/March (Issue 20 – ‘I Think I Can Fly’)
Creatives Behind the Lens book 2009 – Law Courts, Victoria Square
Design Graphics Magazine Issue 102 January 2004, Portfolio: Annual Showcase
Desktop Magazine Issue 178, ‘The Graduate’ February 2002
Honours
2013 ‘Mobile Photographer of the Month’ – Volume Magazine
2013 ‘Backyard’ – Mobile Photo Finalist, Head On Photography Festival
2012 ‘Instaburb’ – Australian Mobile Photography Finalist
2011 ‘Apple iPhoneography Exhibition’ – Finalist, Sydney Apple store
2010 ‘Lalla On Hutt SALA Art Prize’ – 3rd Prize
2010 ‘SALA Atkins Technicolour Photography Award’ Finalist
2009 ‘Corbis Creatives Behind the Lens’ Photography Finalist
Exhibitions
2018 SITHOM Street Photography (group exhibition) Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
2016 RAW Melbourne: 'TREND' (group exhibition) Melbourne Pavilion, Melbourne
2015 'Urban Materiality' (group exhibition) Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2013 ‘Lost/Found/Reuse’ (group exhibition) Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2013 ‘Skrambled Eggs’ (group exhibition) Aspect Photographics Studio, Adelaide
2013 ‘Backyard’ (group exhibition) Head on Photography Festival,
2012 ‘Skrambled Eggs’ (group exhibition) Lightly Salted Studios, Adelaide
2012 ‘Instaburb’ (group exhibition) Dumbo Feather Headquarters, Melbourne
2011 ‘Urban Perspectives’ solo exhibition at JPE Design Studio, Adelaide
2011 ‘iPhoneography Exhibition’ (group exhibition), Apple Store, Sydney
2011 ‘Collagista!’ (group exhibition), Australian National Uni, Canberra
2011 ‘Urban Duality’ Fringe Exhibition, Sugar Nightclub, Adelaide
2011 ‘Photography 11A’ (group exhibition), Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne
2010 ‘iCapture’ SALA Exhibition, Mai Loui Boutique, Adelaide
2010 ‘Creatives Behind the Lens’ Exhibition, 1000 Pound Bend, Melbourne
2009 ‘Creatives Behind the Lens’ Winners Exhibition, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Sydney