GKHZ
An exploration of Sydney's gritty underground.
Frames
December 4, 2014

Mysteriously known as GKHZ, this 16-year-old employs slick photography to uncover the grittier elements of Sydney City landscapes. Urban exploration is a phenomenon taking over the world, but few do it with more conviction and on-point execution as this kid – he even says that Channel 9 used some of his flicks (without consent) in an article on the topic.

GKHZ, who is colourblind, says that “photography to me is capturing a moment in time not how I see it, but how I imagine someone else would.” The shots which he has given us for this edition of Frames take place largely in Sydney’s underground tunnels, a network that has spawned an entire culture unto itself through graffiti, photography and the ilk. His shots are a lesson in opportunistic danger, a product of the ‘no risk, no reward’ mentality and a pleasure to witness. Have a look at his images and explanations below:

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The boys. The kid on the right got a court hearing from hanging on the back of a train across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The one on the left is from Melbourne, we showed him around when he came to Sydney.

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This one was actually that fucked, my mate forgot to bring a coat hanger so we had to pick the lock with a Bosche S4 screw head, good times.

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I don’t really think this one needs a caption to be honest…

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A selfie, because everyone’s going to take one at some point in there life.

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Another Instagramer from Melbourne came down to Sydney, and the scene was hot as, so I was the only one stupid enough to take him underground (this was during the ISIS threats). His missus was on lookout and gave us a buzz, five minutes after that coppers were at the entry point so we had to leg it in the direction the trains were coming from. The trains got delayed that day.

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The slight blur in the image is because it was getting dark and I was on a ladder trying to get a shot with the winds. It was hard because there was an air vent to the entire building’s ventilation behind us and it would fog up our lenses.

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This was just in the moment, we were waiting for some mates to meet us inside the tunnel and then out of nowhere this train came back, the kid had his earphones in and was in a world of his own.

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This was my first time using a Canon CN-E 24mm T1.5 L F Cine lens, it was around 2:00am so i was more afraid of dropping the lens then seeing a ghost train.

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I remember my first shot at this place, it was a rush hour so there was a train coming every three minutes, either arriving at the platform at six minute intervals or leaving at six minute intervals. The first twenty minutes or so, I just hid nearby trying to suss the joint out and once I got a feel for it, I ran over, took a shot and ran back.

Editors Pick
2y
Michael Park
Nat Geo-ready.
3y
Aleksander Małachowski
Organised chaos.