Photography as phenomenology : capturing (my) views of space

Sydney's alternative sector and the management of commercial performance spaces have had a turbulent history, frequently marked by disputes between owners, local residents, and councils over sound regulations and licensing laws. This regulation and a range of factors have contributed to the counter practice of irregular venues within Sydney's underground scenes. The alternative Sydney arts, performance, and grassroots community scenes have been operating as a system of unofficial venues that run without relevant licenses. Artists and musicians etch out an existence in these spaces, away from the norms of the commodified licensed venue experience. These venues are not purpose built spaces and consist of a range of warehouses, lounge rooms, and appropriated buildings within Sydney city and inner west suburbs. My research utilises photography to capture and archive these temporal spaces as they shift, relocate, and reform in the face of imminent closure or exposure. This use of photography as a research methodology aims to map cultural actors in urban space and to articulate how the practice of image making informs a critical and reflexive understanding of space, place, and time. My chapter will question the ways the fluid, adaptable, creative and alternative dimension of Sydney's irregular performance spaces can be revealed and explored through my phenomenological investigation.