A huge new exhibition titled On The Street Where I Live is resurrecting a golden age of Melbourne's inner north for free.
On The Street Where I Live: Viva Gibb’s portrait of North and West Melbourne opens at City Gallery on 12 March, showcasing over 200 black-and-white photographs taken between the mid-1970s and early 1990s. The exhibition marks the largest presentation of Melbourne documentary photographer Viva Gibb’s work in more than 30 years, featuring never-before-seen material from her personal archives.
The photographs came from a major donation to the Melbourne Art Trust in 2025, when more than 200 silver gelatin prints were gifted by Gibb’s children, Sybil Gibb and Rupert Duffy. Gibb (1945–2017) lived and worked in West Melbourne for two decades, walking the narrow streets around her homes on Capel Street, Hawke Street and Stanley Street to capture the neighbourhood with extraordinary intimacy and depth.
On The Street Where I Live: Viva Gibb’s portrait of North and West Melbourne
- City Gallery, Ground Level, Melbourne Town Hall
- 12 March – 7 August
- Monday to Friday, 8:30am–5pm
- Free entry
- Curator talk and extended opening hours: 14 March, 10am–4pm
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Her subjects included workers and labourers, immigrants and refugees, the elderly, LGBTQ+ community members, single mothers, homeless individuals, children and local business owners. Working with both a Rolleiflex medium format camera and a 4×5-inch Graflex Speed Graphic, Gibb developed and printed all her own work in silver gelatin.
During the late 1970s, Gibb shared a house on Capel Street with celebrated Australian writer Helen Garner, who was writing her debut novel Monkey Grip at the time. Both artists documented the same inner-city counterculture from their shared domestic space – Gibb through photography, Garner through fiction. The exhibition catalogue will feature contributions from both Garner and photographer Ruth Maddison.
Born in Bobinawarrah, Victoria in 1945, Gibb trained as a painter and printmaker before turning to photography. Her work is held in major public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery of Australia, State Library of Victoria and Museum of Australian Photography. The exhibition is curated by Savannah Smith from the City of Melbourne’s Art and Heritage Collection.
On The Street Where I Live runs 12 March – 7 August. For more information, head here.
