A city’s obsession with coffee
From post-WWII migrants who introduced espresso machines to the city, to the thriving café culture of today, coffee has become Melbourne’s cultural glue. It is more than a drink: it is a ritual, a marker of identity, and a way of bringing people together across generations.
‘Melbourne Through the Coffee Cup’ captures this through photography and words that honour the pioneers, traders and everyday patrons who made coffee central to Melbourne life. The free exhibition is presented by Carlton photographer Peter Casamento and writer Sandra Makris, and is housed at Coffee Machine Technologies on the corner of Lygon and Faraday Streets in Carlton.
The exhibition
‘Melbourne Through the Coffee Cup’ is auspiced as part of the Head On Photo Festival and is one of twelve selected for Victoria. It brings together portraits, stories and documentary images that reveal the social and cultural breadth of Melbourne’s coffee life.
Photographs are grouped to show people in their everyday café environments. Captions expand their stories and highlight the significance of Melbourne’s rituals. The exhibition includes sections on café workers, passionate baristas, regulars and their habits, dogs in cafés, the next generation growing up in the culture, coffee and cigarettes as a historic look at a habit that once defined café life, and Melbourne’s laneways and street life. Collectively, the works reveal Melbourne through the coffee cup.
One central section pays tribute to the early trailblazers. These were risk taking migrant men who brought espresso machines to Melbourne, opened the first cafés and helped shape the character of Carlton and the city beyond. They built something that evolved into a culture many now take for granted. Their contribution is acknowledged and placed at the centre of the exhibition because their stories needed to take pride of place.
This level of research and documentation has not been undertaken before. The project has cultural value for Victoria and offers substance rather than hype. It provides a clear record of how coffee, community and café life became central to Melbourne’s identity.
The exhibition is free and open to every visitor with an interest in coffee and the culture surrounding it.
Exhibition details
This exhibition has concluded and took place from 9 November to 31 December 2025.
Venue: Coffee Machine Technologies, 285 Lygon Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Pictures: Peter Casamento
Words: Sandra Makris
Voting competition results
The results are in for the ‘Vote for your favourite photo‘ competition!
Congratulations to the lucky winners who have won one of six prizes with the following local Carlton retailers:
Bella Luck Charms – $130 gift voucher won by Juliana P
Country Road, Carlton – $179 gift box won by Trish E
Di Stasio Carlton – $150 dining voucher won by Gianna G
Forza Italia – $150 gift voucher won by Jan M
Johnny, Vince and Sam’s Ristorante – $150 dining voucher won by Marcus L
University Cafe – $150 dining voucher won by Darren T
