Greetings from the Queen explores one of the great markets of the world.

The initial aim of this project was to interpret and reflect the vitality, diversity and colour of the Queen Victoria market, generating a unique body of high quality photographic works for public exhibition that would function as art, information and entertainment.

I thought it might take a year…

I’ve since learnt that not only is this huge resource full of immediate and historical wonders, but a source, a font, a spring - a whole river - of possibilities. Every day a fresh page opens. There’s always something one hasn’t seen or heard before, let alone bought or sold. Faces come and go, yet the place stays pretty much the same. The promise of magic rests with this market’s enduring sense of potential.

Embarking on a living history project, I began trawling the lanes, sheds and buildings for threads linking the present day market to its place in much earlier days of Melbourne, seeking to illuminate facets of what keeps this remarkable place ticking.

People began trading here when Elizabeth Street was still a creek.

Upon the remains of many early settlers, the Vic market also operated for ninety years as the central wholesale outlet of fresh produce for an entire state.

As a primal manifestation of supply and demand, it also offers insights into the essential nature of the universal marketplace.

Each visit became akin to dipping a bucket into the village well - a deep pool of commonplace wisdom, recharged by generation after generation of experiences and knowledge, born of living this market.

And so to accompany a big tilt at adequate pictorial coverage, a large body of interviews began taking shape. Tales of the Vic market, told by those who know it best, breathing life into the skeleton of historical fact courtesy of the most precious commodity in any marketplace. Trust.

For this isn't just a place so much as an endangered way of life. A venue of extremes, the stuff of urban folklore.

The Vic market has stood its place in time based on its ability to feed and clothe people. Cheaply.

A bastion of the smallest of small businesses, traditionally thriving in a highly competitive environment, this market provides a fertile symbol in the evolution of staggering variety. From opportunities to pursue a livelihood, cultural benefits flow naturally.

As its undisputed makers, the people who trade and shop here still own this place…

Most shoppers come for a bargain and freedom of choice, values taking supremacy over convenience. You can bring your dog and are compelled to behold the changing of the seasons, sometimes four times a day. There's a refreshing lack of sterility.

Market people are hardy folk.

Roaring voices and gentle smiles ply trades requiring delicate arrangements and sheer brute force. There are rewards alright, though the hours can be a killer… Dearly loved, often despised, feted, ignored, nurtured and abused, this market is the place where Melbournians from all walks still rub shoulders. A village within a city, a highlight of Australian cultural heritage, it’s part of what makes us who we are.

This is a celebration of a functioning market.

The material generated by this project forms the basis of a forthcoming touring exhibition and book.