​These permanent markets in one of the most happening areas of Manhattan shows a timeless beauty, signage that reflects modern trends with an ability to hold this for decades to come. The signage fronts an independent designer pop-up boutique, showcasing a handful of local clothing and jewellery designers' work. The perfect location for such a venture.

This is a sport I do not understand. Not just the game, but the interest in it. I realise that would trouble many people, so will probably not repeat it. But nonetheless, the view is spectacular (see what I did there, with spectator/spectacular). The people are as unique as ever, the colours rich and vivid and the atmosphere warm (literally) and vibrant.​

​New York's subways are cultural melting pots in themselves. Nothing captures that better than its walls. Always there, accepting the dirt, smells and textures that make a city unique.

​The clock ticks over to 5pm on a platform at Flinders St Station. The city's still in holiday mode, so traffic is quieter than usual.

It's at this point it becomes truly apparent that Manhattan really is an island. It's so easy to forget, caught up in the concrete jungle, that ​beyond the water is where most of America lives.

As Melbourne reaches that point of summer, where tennis fever has really hit, a surge of interest in the well-loved sport takes over the city. Like no other time of the year, everyone seems to follow the sport, no matter how little they actually care.

In the heart of Chelsea, this street is decorated in all its Christmas cheer. A sight to behold is Manhattan during the holiday season. And everything, right down to the street lights, are elements of strategic urban planning.

Melbourne loves its bikes, and if you're a visitor to the city, you don't have to miss out. It's being trialled throughout the city, allowing both residents and visitors to hire a bike, take it for as long as you'd like, and return it at any of the stations across the city. If it wasn't for Melbourne's design sensibility, the tourist-alarm bells might be ringing, but this is something we can let slide.

For a city that never sleeps, it's ​very easy to just stop and capture the beauty in the simplest things. Like, for example, this LED signage on a subway car. It's in motion, lacking clarity, yet moves with intent and even an element of grace. This machine is well oiled. There's method in its madness.

On a fairly uneventful ride downtown, we came across an impromtu performance of a group of men at the Port Authority terminal. This is exactly why I love New York. Just beautiful.

In this city, trams run the roads. They create totally unique streets capes, with their cabling running above, and tracks lining the centre lanes.

​The sheer beauty of the American Museum of Natural History is epitomised in its main glass façade. It reflects back the incredible artefacts, creating a silhouette of sensational architecture. The starkness of the glass is juxtaposed with the surrounding buildings of old-world elegance.

Public transport systems are life​blood of a city, and the infrastructure that connects it is beautiful in itself. These lines lie below in the epicentre of the urban environment, keeping citizens' lives functioning freely.

​This image is so obscure, I would give you much credit for working out where it is. The room where this was taken was bright, and 'sunny' and warm. It was an enclosure within the Museum of Natural History, an exhibition about butterflies. The room was amazing. Yes, the butterflies were amazing too, but the pseudo-rainforest that existed in the middle of the city, with this all of these contraptions keeping these little creatures alive, was just fascinating; and provided some great detail shots.

Chelsea Markets​, in the neighbourhood of the same name, resides in a beautiful, old brick building. It's really the quintessential New York building. Throughout it is a number of artworks, some sculptural and some occupying the walls, as though they're a part of the very construction.

​No other image in my collection captures New York's distinct architectural style better than this. Its texture, its layers. I love it all. The staircase, the windows, the finely worn bricks. Just beautiful. Having said this, it's by no means a definitive New York-style, for the city is really a collection of a million different styles and origins.

On the Upper West Side, just down from Serendipity3 (yes, from the film), you will come across a candy heaven. It's Dylan's, and it's just sensational. Don't buy anything. You won't be able to choose. But just look. That's capitalism right there. And it's incredible.​

These people are in no rush. It's just after Christmas, trains are running as they please, and the city seems to be enjoying an extended break. It's the perfect laid-back vibe for a​ hit of tennis.

​It says it all, doesn't it. And it's beautiful. Embrace the bicycle! Even though I'll always drive...

Summer's gone, yet the beachside destination still holds great character. Its emptiness is magnificent. A strip of coastline set up for the masses, yet entirely unused in its off-season.

Summer nights at St Kilda brings this ice cream truck, radiating from the back of the beach. A truly welcome element to the beachside streets cape.

Everyone's windows are down, the traffic is swift and effluence, yet laid-back. Melbourne's summer vibe is clear. No one is in a rush, and somehow, people seem just a little happier, more tolerant on the roads.

​This video, an in-house creative project, directed by Jeremy Smart, is an exploration into life as a journey, and the collected baggage - both emotional and physical - that is collected throughout. The film is a collection of stylised scenes, that combined, create the story of emotional baggage, and the emotions felt throughout an individual's life. The film represents an almost 'universal' life, that could reflect that of anyone's throughout the world, and the feelings experienced.

The scenes represent universal ideas and emotions, however depict localised scenery in Australia's Snowy Mountains. This particular natural landscape lends itself to the overall concept - the region's own collection of stories, representing the gathered baggage from the journey of life. A plaid-patterned suitcase acts as a recurring motif, being the central object that houses each of the items that are associated with the depicted memories. In each scene, the suitcase is shown as the home of these memories - specifically, symbolic of the 'emotional baggage' metaphor.

The artwork is intended to be interpretive by the audience, with no complete statement made, simply an allusion to the concept, allowing audiences to create their own interpretations of the work, based on their own emotional journeys, reminiscent of the idea of "the death of the author". The process began as a basic narrative, beginning as a picnic among friends (the happiness), going on a journey of exploration and subsequently concluding with the throwing of the baggage into the lake. It has changed since inception, and become a somewhat bittersweet journey, where the scene of happiness is seen in an unhappy light.

​Don't ever let anyone downplay the beauty of standing at the top of New York's Empire State Building. It's crowded, touristy and annoying. The stairs suck but are much quicker than the elevator and there's no place to sit up there. But all of that aside, the view is magnificent. Zone everything out, be there with who you're with (or maybe just yourself) and enjoy the moment. Forget about the people, and just enjoy it. An intimate moment between a city and yourself.

Terrible title, I know. But captures the layered urban landscape we live in. Signs on lights on buildings on skies. And right at the front of that? McDonalds. Who else?​

Cony Island's theme park closes over winter, no doubt for re​furbishments. Behind fenced barricades, the workmen build a better park for the following summer. Its empty, peaceful and eerie. There's a sense of presence to the area, as though people are there enjoying it, yet there's no one in sight.