In his early days of documenting the fading world, the remnants of streets and buildings from his childhood Melbourne, Warren Kirk would drive past a magical old milk bar or shopfront and make a note to come back the following week, take a photo. But upon returning he'd find the place knocked down

"Lesson learnt," he says. "Don't think that something is always going to be there."

Seddon. Credit:Warren Kirk

Mr Kirk, 65, a photographer with something of a cult following – and an utter contempt for the cult of personality – has begun to wonder at the good and busy years left to him. "How many healthy strong fit years have I got left to keep doing what I'm doing, 10 or 15, I don't know."

He's probably best known as the Westographer​ because of his 30 years documenting the western suburbs. A large sample of that work, Westography, is being published as a book July. He plans no television interviews, because his face and much of his own story to himself. "The Westographer" suits him: a man of no identity apart from his work that never stops.