I became interested in the Red Pepper restaurant and its taxi driver patrons back in December 2008. I'd been out late one mid-week night in Melbourne's CBD and at about 2 am my friends and I were looking for a taxi home. Normally a taxi would be easy to find at the top end of Bourke Street but although many taxis were parked along the kerb none had a driver ready to whisk us back to our homes. As we walked further up the street we noticed the Red Pepper Indian restaurant was the only place still open and it was absolutely packed with taxi drivers eating their post shift meals. One of them agreed to give us a lift and, on the way home, I came to thinking about the restaurant, its patrons and how, as a Melbournian, I had little knowledge of this place and the culture that was bubbling away inside. This project is my attempt to connect with this small subculture nestled in a pocket of the city I know and love.
– William