Ha Long City, Not Long Enough
Ha Long City from high above – a working Vietnamese city of streets and rooftops, with Ha Long Bay running along its edge.
An amazing view of Ha Long City, nestled against Ha Long Bay, as viewed from an apartment high-rise building. PHOTO: Campbell Mattinson.
Ha Long City sits on the northern shore of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam's north-east, about 178 kilometres east of Hanoi. The name translates as "descending dragon". The city took its current name in 1993, when the old coal town of Hon Gai was renamed Ha Long and absorbed Bai Chay across the water. It's the gateway to the bay's UNESCO-listed field of limestone islands, but the city itself has long been a working place too – coal mining and processing, shipbuilding and building materials sit alongside the tourism. From above, the two worlds meet: dense streets on one side, the bay on the other.
I visited in 2025. Ha Long Bay itself is incredible, if disturbingly polluted. Ha Long City – no longer officially a city, though everyone still calls it one – is equally fascinating although, unfortunately, I’d allocated very little time to explore it. Most travellers make the same mistake.
Elena Nyleeta at Anton Venoir Interiors
An early Fujifilm portrait: Elena Nyleeta, shot on a tiny X-T20 with the original 35mm f1.4, inside the French-styled rooms of Anton Venoir Interiors (Salon Trois) in Prahran, Melbourne.
Actor-model Elena Nyleeta at the Anton Venoir Interiors (Salon Trois) studio in Prahran, Melbourne.
In my early days of using Fujifilm cameras I captured Elena Nyleeta on a tiny X-T20 camera, with the original 35mm f1.4 lens, at the Anton Venoir Interiors (Salon Trois) in Prahran, Melbourne.
Elena Nyleeta (full name Elena Nyleeta Steere) is an Australian actor, model, and creative artist – her portfolio spans a broad range of high-profile advertising work, including headlining a major national billboard campaign for 13CABS and starring in commercial campaigns for Chemist Warehouse, T2 Tea, and prominent Australian wine and food brands like Pepperjack Wine and Schnitz.
Anton Venoir Interiors (Salon Trois) is worth a mention too. In fact I’ll review this studio in future. This isn’t your average white-walled studio. It’s a French-inspired, editorial-grade photography location that feels like a private, European apartment. It’s all textures and museum-quality French antiques. It’s at 650 Malvern Road, Prahran VIC 3181.
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Monsanto Building 2026
Built in 1941 by the American chemical giant, the old Monsanto building in Brooklyn stands deserted and heritage-protected – and looks mighty in monochrome.
The old Monsanto building at 454-460 Somerville Road in Brooklyn, Melbourne, in 2026, in black and white. PHOTO: Campbell Mattinson.
I’ve written about the deserted building at 454-460 Somerville Road in Brooklyn, Melbourne, in the past, on my other site, and I’m currently creating a new and expanded 2026 collection of images of this building. But this building – which used to be the Australian manufacturing base* of Monsanto – sure looks mighty in monochrome. The building was built in 1941, by the American chemical giant. The original building is heritage ‘protected’, as is the cafeteria building behind it, but most of the other buildings on the site were demolished around 2009.
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The front building here was mostly administration, but the main administration headquarters of Monsanto back in its prime days was in the Melbourne CBD.
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Barry Morey, Sorrenberg
Barry Morey at work in the Sorrenberg winery, Beechworth – drawing wine from a cask, as he has done since the late 1980s.
Sorrenberg founder and winemaker Barry Morey draws wine from an oak cask in his Beechworth cellar. PHOTO: Campbell Mattinson.
Barry Morey and his wife Jan own Sorrenberg, a small vineyard on the outskirts of Beechworth in north-east Victoria. The vines were planted in 1985 and the first vintage was in 1989. Like fellow Beechworth pioneer Rick Kinzbrunner, Barry worked at Brown Brothers, though he started out there as a maintenance man rather than a winemaker. How good is that. His family's winemaking roots trace back centuries to Germany's Mosel; his grandfather, Jacob Barzen, emigrated to work a family vineyard at Dookie, and the Sorrenberg name comes from a small Barzen family vineyard near Reil on the Mosel. Gamay is arguably the estate's most sought-after wine, though the chardonnay, sauvignon blanc semillon and cabernet blend are all among the country's best of their kind, and are all commonly stellar.
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Victoria Hotel, Benalla: Monochrome
Campbell Mattinson captures the Victoria Hotel in Benalla, in black and white.
The historic Victoria Hotel in Benella, in full sun, captured in black and white. Built in 1873. PHOTO: Campbell Mattinson.
The Victoria Hotel in Benalla is 150 years old and has seen better days, but it still looks magnificent in monochrome. This is the same image as shown in the full spread on the Victoria Hotel, but converted here to b&w.
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