We love our location, on the east side of of Brisbane’s nightlife capital Fortitude Valley. Or as we have just coined – EFOVA (East Fortitude Valley).

While ‘nightlife capital’ is not a title that we seek to own (we enjoy FOVA’s night time activities too much for that) we are quietly chuffed with the slow evolution of James St’s unique night life since the original venues, the hero’s and the stalwarts – Cru Bar, Harveys and Gerard’s – saw the spark of potential in our place back in the early 2000’s, as a nocturnal destination.

With thanks to their vision and an influx of some exceptionally savvy operators in the last two decades, James St has grown to become one of Queensland’s leading dining and after dark destinations with a potent mix of restaurants, bars, hotels, take-out spots and one late night gelato joint, all leaving the light on well after dark.

In celebration of this nightlife, The Calile recently invited James St favourite late-night-photographer and after-dark-artist, Tom Blachford back to our neighbourhood to document the night-time hours for their Calile Nights homepage takeover.

Renowned for capturing locations after dark – that liminal space that exists between sunset and sunrise – Blachford has documented a silvery moonlit night in our neighbourhood and at The Calile.

You may remember Blachford and his striking James St late night images taken after a summer storm for our 2020 Guide. Tom’s latest James St jaunt transports us again to a luminous place that is James Street every evening. With a subtle nod to Gregory Crewdson and Edward Hopper, Tom’s images portray the stillness of a time in our street that we often forget to enjoy. A time that can be calm but is also often, exciting – depending on where the night takes you, or where you take the night.

So we invite you to enjoy James St by night… Be it for dinner at a buzzing dining venue. A drink to wrap the day – or start the night. A takeaway to be enjoyed at home or at a friend’s with a friend. Our place looks different under moonlight and we, The Calile and Tom Blachford invite you to look again with the lights off.