A tense urban vibe

The visuals of Yarra’s Edge are just as stunning to its locals as to visitors but some take a while to discover the charms.

When Peta Brehaut moved in after the lockdown, she took out her camera and couldn’t stop clicking.

The communications coordinator had been letting her artistic side slumber.

One of her first pictures was of the Webb Bridge. She took it from her balcony on a long exposure.

The picture with its tense urban vibe shows a love of place and design.

It is one of the photographs in the International Women’s Day show at Magnet Gallery and the most relevant in terms of location.

The exhibition with its theme of circles has brought out the more abstract side of the photographer’s work.

Peta became starry-eyed about Yarra’s Edge as a place during lockdown.

“We were in Southbank,” she said. “We lived there seven years. During lockdown I said let’s move. We didn’t know Yarra’s Edge existed. We found a place. Committing is fantastic.”

She shot a lot of local pictures, started posting on Instagram and met a group of photographers who walk around the city.

“I was going to the office at lunchtime. Now I get out and take photos.”

One of the Instagram group swirled around a light on a string in front of the Arts Centre.

This added the effect Peta wanted for the show.

She is now going uber local and putting on a solo show in the café at the bottom of her tower.

The show will open on April 19 and is aimed at locals. She loves the light that reflects off the ANZ building, for example.

She said a lot of people cross the Webb Bridge and go straight to South Wharf. Their balcony looks straight across the river where the magic happens.

“The buildings filter away from the sun, and you get silhouettes,” she said.

Photographs, Peta Brehaut, 18 Pence Lane, Tower 4, from April 19. •

Caption: Pete Brehaut with her camera.