For me my experience of the city is broken in two parts. I grew up in the North Shore so my memories are filled with the smells of summer flowers like sherbet. Everyone has front yards there and the air’s clean. It’s nice and pleasant. It’s a place you can linger.

I moved to the inner city to study in my late 20’s. It was honestly the smell of hot urine on concrete that hit me while walking through Redfern and Surry Hills. There was something surprising about how frequent it was. I don’t like to linger on bad smells I like to hurry past. I’m constantly trying to enjoy the landscape here but I’m struggling to find a pleasant place I can be in for a long time.

I feel surrounded by the smell of hot beer and the alcohol stained carpet of pubs. These are the scents of Sydney in my Summer.

SCENT

Dry urine on concrete, hot beer soaked into carpet, summer flowers like sherbet

By

Jesse