Milk bars becoming cafes, houses demolished for apartments — the telltale signs of gentrification are evident in Melbourne's west.

Warren Kirk walks these changing streets, camera in hand, documenting the disappearing remnants of 20th-century suburbia.

His photos capture a world of faded signs, vinyl furniture and concrete garden ornaments, as well as the long-term residents who live and work there.

Warren Kirk features images from his popular Flickr account. ( Supplied: Warren Kirk )

Nearly every day, for more than four years, Mr Kirk has uploaded one of these photos to his popular Flickr account Westographer.

It is this archive of more than 1,800 images that he has drawn upon for his new book Westography: Images Of A Vanishing Suburbia.

Modern design is 'rubbish'

Mr Kirk said he had no time for 21st-century design, which he described as "rubbish".

"It's all melamine and MDF," he told 774 ABC Melbourne's Rafael Epstein.

"I just think, visually, the last century was a better looking place.

"I'm sure somebody in 50 years' time will look back at 2010 and say, 'Oh wow, wasn't it so great'."

Warren Kirk says modern design is rubbish compared to that of the 20th century. ( Supplied: Warren Kirk )

He said his aim when taking a photograph was to evoke a feeling in the viewer.

"I like old things, and they have a narrative in certain situations — in a person's living space, for instance, or in an old factory," he said.

"To me the interesting thing is to be able to photograph something that most people would walk past and not even look at, but if you show it to them in an image they go, 'Oh, gee'."

Gentrification 'inevitable result of capitalism'

Mr Kirk started taking photos in the 1980s, when he became interested in black and white street photography.

Old objects tell a story, says photographer Warren Kirk. ( Supplied: Warren Kirk )

Switching to colour film in the 1990s, he began focus on "retro" subjects, and soon started capturing images of old buildings.

"You'd go back a couple of weeks later and the building had been knocked down, and you realise that every photograph is actually just a little moment in time."

That experience is becoming more common in Melbourne's west, as the city's rising house prices slowly change the demographics of once working class suburbs.

"What I find really annoying is the fact that what makes an area beautiful, and attracts people to it, will probably in 10 years not exist anymore because it will be full of townhouses," Mr Kirk said.

"It's the inevitable result of capitalism because the construction industry has to construct."

The book Westography is to be released in July and Mr Kirk continues to upload a photo a day to the Westographer Flickr account.