Photographing Meyers Place

About Meyers Place

Meyers Place links Bourke Street with Little Collins Street in Melbourne’s eastern CBD. It is one of the city’s older laneways and combines heritage buildings, bars and restaurants with a major contemporary mural.

Its defining street-art subject is Jungle Funk by Mike Makatron, commissioned through the City of Melbourne’s Green Your Laneway program. The lush vegetation, insects and animals cover the Bourke Street end and turn an otherwise hard urban wall into a strong vertical composition. Treat the mural, lane activity and architecture as three related subjects rather than expecting every wall to be painted.

Street art and venue details change. Date photographs and describe individual works only when an attribution can be verified.

Viewpoints

1. Bourke Street entrance

Make an establishing frame showing the entrance, lane sign and full height of Jungle Funk. A vertical composition suits the mural; a wider horizontal frame explains its position in the city.

2. Opposite-wall mural view

Move only within public space and keep the camera level. A moderate wide angle captures the mural without exaggerating the lower wall; overlapping vertical frames can preserve detail.

3. Green-laneway details

Look for foliage, planters, painted leaves, insects and the meeting of living plants with painted vegetation. A short telephoto lens isolates these layers.

4. Central hospitality section

Doorways, signs, diners and service activity provide human-scale context. Early morning is cleaner; evening is more atmospheric.

5. Little Collins Street end

Photograph back through the long lane to compress signs, brickwork and people into a layered urban view.

Other Things to Look Out For

How I Would Photograph Meyers Place

What I would take

A 16–35 mm lens suits the tall mural and confined entrance; a 24–70 mm lens is more natural for the lane, details and people. A tilt-shift lens or carefully levelled camera helps control verticals. Use a tripod only when the lane is quiet.

Techniques

Bright overcast light is the safest starting point because the lane is shaded while upper walls may receive direct sun. Protect mural highlights, make a level architectural frame, then record overlapping detail photographs. At blue hour, expose for illuminated venue signs and retain colour in the sky.

Other things to look out for

Record heritage brick, old loading doors, lane signs, plants, reflections after rain, restaurant activity and the contrast between real foliage and Makatron’s painted ecosystem.

Nearby Locations

Hosier and Rutledge lanes

Melbourne’s best-known continuously changing street-art precinct, beside Federation Square.

AC/DC Lane and Meyers Place

Music-themed art, large murals, hospitality and small stencil details east of Russell Street.

Presgrave Place and Centre Place

Miniature framed works, paste-ups, cafés and classic laneway depth.

Drewery Lane and Mornane Place

Two smaller northern-CBD locations that reward close observation and can be combined in a walking circuit.

Flinders Street Station and Federation Square

Architecture, transport, people and blue-hour subjects complement a street-art visit.

Location

Meyers Place
Between Bourke Street and Little Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Central coordinates: approximately -37.81210, 144.97226.

The principal mural is at the Bourke Street entrance. Coordinates mark public-lane viewpoints, not permission to enter venues or service areas.

Apple Map – Location and Nearby Photographic Locations

The Apple Map identifies five photographic positions along Meyers Place, followed by nearby street-art and city subjects. Artwork and access conditions can change without notice.

How to Get There

Enter from Bourke Street between Exhibition and Spring streets, or from Little Collins Street. Parliament railway station is the closest station; trams run along Bourke and Collins streets within the central city.

Walking and public transport are preferable. Meyers Place is a narrow working lane with no visitor parking.

Driving from the State Capital

The state capital is used as a consistent reference point. Apple Maps calculates the automobile route to this location; your actual route may vary with your starting point, traffic, roadworks and temporary closures.

Current Access / Conditions

Information checked September 2026. Current City of Melbourne guidance continues to identify Meyers Place and Mike Makatron’s Jungle Funk mural. The lane remains a working hospitality and service environment, so deliveries, bins, outdoor activity, maintenance and temporary closures can alter a viewpoint.

Do not assume that minor works or venue details shown in older photographs remain. Keep doors, loading access and fire exits clear.

Best Time to Visit

Early morning

Best for a clean lane, controlled architecture and fewer diners, although deliveries may be present.

Bright overcast conditions

Provides even colour across the mural and limits the brightness difference between the shaded lane and upper walls.

Late afternoon and blue hour

Venue signs and people add atmosphere; balance artificial light with the remaining sky.

After rain

Wet paving can echo the mural’s greens and add reflections, but watch for glare and service traffic.

Accessibility

Meyers Place is paved and broadly level with step-free entry at both ends. Its narrow width, uneven service surfaces, bins, deliveries, diners and temporary obstacles may restrict manoeuvring space.

Photograph from the lane without blocking doors or vehicle access. Visit early if crowd-free movement is important.

Where to Stay

The eastern CBD offers many hotels around Parliament, Collins Street and Flinders Lane. Staying nearby makes an early mural session and an evening return practical. Southbank is also convenient for combining laneways with river and skyline work.

Photography Recommendations

• Begin with the Bourke Street entrance and the complete Jungle Funk wall.
• Keep the camera level or stitch frames to control mural perspective.
• Pair wide context with details of animals, insects and painted vegetation.
• Use real plants, brick and people to show how the mural changes the lane.
• Photograph both directions before moving to a nearby street-art location.
• Date captions and verify artist attributions.
• Keep venue doors and service access clear.

Field composition sequence

Make a straight-on record of the mural, then step back to show its relationship to the laneway. Look for details in the painted foliage and compare an empty frame with one including a passer-by for scale.

Suggested Photographic Sequence

1. Start on Bourke Street with a contextual entrance frame.
2. Make level vertical and stitched views of Jungle Funk.
3. Record mural details and the relationship between painted and living plants.
4. Walk south for hospitality, signage and architectural photographs.
5. Look back north from the Little Collins Street end.
6. Return at blue hour or continue to Mornane Place and Hosier Lane.

How Long Should a Photographer Stay?

Allow 45 to 90 minutes for Meyers Place, or two to three hours when combining it with nearby lanes. A daylight and blue-hour pair of visits gives the most complete coverage.

My Priority Photographs

1. The complete Jungle Funk mural with controlled verticals.
2. A Bourke Street entrance frame locating the mural in Melbourne.
3. Painted animals, insects and vegetation as detailed studies.
4. Real foliage layered against the mural.
5. A long view through the lane with people for scale.
6. Heritage brick, signs and hospitality context.
7. A wet-pavement or blue-hour interpretation.