The Kumano Kodo
Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID

The Kumano Kodo

In March 2024 I finally walked part of the ancient Kumano Kodo, a thousand-year-old World Heritage pilgrimage trail linking the three great shrines of Kumano through the forests of Japan’s Kii Peninsula. Dreamed up during Melbourne’s lockdowns, the quiet journey from shrine to shrine felt like stepping into a living spiritual history.

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Osaka Sumo Tournament
Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID

Osaka Sumo Tournament

After my Nakasendo hike I raced to Osaka for a whirlwind visit to see a Sumo tournament, relying on a ticket service to secure a seat while I was stuck on a shoot. Four hours, three trains and a very welcome hotel shower later, I made it to Edion Arena just in time to settle into a western-style seat and soak up the drama of Japan’s most iconic sport.

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The Nakasendo Way
Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID

The Nakasendo Way

The Nakasendo Way is a beautifully preserved historic route linking old Edo to Kyoto, where towns like Magome and Tsumago still feel frozen in time, especially at dawn and dusk.

This route was recommended to me for for its mix of stunning scenery and atmospheric Edo-era villages that promised incredible photographic opportunities.

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Mt Fuji
Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID

Mt Fuji

This was my second trip to Mt Fuji after a first visit lost to rain and fog, and countless fleeting glimpses from the Shinkansen. This time I reshuffled my itinerary to end my Tokyo stay in Kawaguchiko, chasing the only window of clear weather I could find from Australia.

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Tokyo
Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID Travel, Japan LUKE DAVID

Tokyo

On my fourth visit to Tokyo in July 2024, I ditched the sightseeing checklist and let solo travel and photography guide me to entirely new corners of my favourite city in one of my favourite countries. Free to follow my intuition, I lingered where the light was right, stayed longer when a place felt alive, and discovered a new side of Tokyo.

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Salt Lake City, Utah.
Travel, USA LUKE DAVID Travel, USA LUKE DAVID

Salt Lake City, Utah.

I spent two nights in Salt Lake City with the aim of photographing the iconic buildings of the Church of Latter Day Saints and exploring the city framed by mountains. While Temple Square was closed for renovation, the striking conference centre and historic administration buildings more than made up for it.

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Bonneville Salt Flats
Travel, USA LUKE DAVID Travel, USA LUKE DAVID

Bonneville Salt Flats

After leaving the red rock country of Utah, I continued west to the vast emptiness of the Bonneville Salt Flats, where the land dissolves into an endless white horizon. Standing alone on the crusted salt under a huge sky felt like stepping onto another planet, a place defined by scale, silence and the strange beauty of absolute nothingness.

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Arches National Park
Travel, USA LUKE DAVID Travel, USA LUKE DAVID

Arches National Park

After my Aspen workshop I drove four hours into the Utah desert to explore Arches National Park, basing myself overnight in Moab just outside the gates. Despite the scorching heat, the crowds were light and the reward was an unforgettable landscape of towering, time-worn rock formations that felt utterly other-worldly.

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‘Post Photographic Processes’ Workshop in Aspen Colorado.
Travel, Projects, USA LUKE DAVID Travel, Projects, USA LUKE DAVID

‘Post Photographic Processes’ Workshop in Aspen Colorado.

In July I travelled solo to Colorado to attend a five-day workshop at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass near Aspen, a stunning mountain retreat dedicated to art, inspiration and community. Immersed in creativity for a full week, I connected with artists from across disciplines and rediscovered the joy of focusing solely on making work in an extraordinary setting.

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Woomelang Station Redevelopment
Architecture, Commercial LUKE DAVID Architecture, Commercial LUKE DAVID

Woomelang Station Redevelopment

I recently worked with Davidson Architecture to document the redevelopment of Woomelang Station in the Mallee, part of VicTrack’s Community Use of Vacant Rail Buildings program. Once restored, the station will become a Mallee Makers Gallery managed by the Woomelang and District Historical Society, breathing new life into this historic rural landmark.

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Singapore
Travel, Singapore LUKE DAVID Travel, Singapore LUKE DAVID

Singapore

After years of cancelled plans, it was thrilling to finally board a plane again and escape overseas for the first time since 2019. With travel opening up, my partner, a friend and I took a short, well-earned week in Singapore to relax, reset and indulge in great food.

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Threshold
Travel, Urbex LUKE DAVID Travel, Urbex LUKE DAVID

Threshold

Threshold is a five-year series capturing abandoned Victorian properties encountered on countless road trips, places still haunted by the lives they once held. Created against the backdrop of COVID lockdowns, the work reflects a state poised between decay and renewal, wondering what awaits us on the other side of confinement.

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The Victorian Pride Centre
Projects, Architecture LUKE DAVID Projects, Architecture LUKE DAVID

The Victorian Pride Centre

Over the past year I’ve been documenting the Victorian Pride Centre from construction through to its grand opening, capturing the birth of a landmark space celebrating and supporting Victoria’s diverse LGBTIQ+ community. What began with photographing the Night of Pride fundraiser has grown into an incredible journey, following the centre as it rose from the ground and became a vibrant hub of connection, inclusion and pride.

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Abandoned Calder Park Thunderdome
Street, Urbex LUKE DAVID Street, Urbex LUKE DAVID

Abandoned Calder Park Thunderdome

I’m drawn to abandoned places, where the echoes of past lives linger in crumbling spaces like the long-forgotten Thunderdome stands at Calder Park. Visiting on New Year’s Day 2021, I found the area open and unmanaged, with fences falling away to the elements, and explored only where access was clearly already open. My approach to abandoned photography is simple: never break in, never damage or deface, and always leave a place exactly as I found it.

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COVID-19 Projects
Projects LUKE DAVID Projects LUKE DAVID

COVID-19 Projects

During Melbourne’s long lockdowns I began imagining a “deserted city,” blending old photos of Melbourne with the vast sand dunes of Wilsons Prom to create visions of a metropolis swallowed by time and sand. The series struck a nerve online and has inspired me to continue the story, this time exploring a city slowly coming back to life.

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