27/05/2026
"The Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch"
At the busy corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets, three life-size bronze figures stand waiting for a tram that never seems to come. Officially titled Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch: Batman, Swanston and Hoddle, this whimsical sculpture is one of Melbourne’s most recognizable, yet often misunderstood, landmarks.
Who are they? They are named after three founding fathers of the city, frozen in time as if they’ve just stepped out of the 1830s to find a modern metropolis:
🔹 John Batman: The co-founder of the settlement of Melbourne. 🔹 Charles Swanston: A prominent banker and businessman.
🔹 Robert Hoddle: The surveyor who designed the city’s famous grid layout.
The Story Behind the Art Created in 1993 by artists Alison Weaver and Paul Quinn, the piece was a gift from the Republic of Nauru to celebrate Melbourne’s 150th anniversary . While they look like modern workers on a lunch break, the artists intended them to be "pedestrians of vast time" .
A Snapshot of Melbourne Life The photos I took show a perfect duality of this city:
🌃 The Night Shift: In the dark, with the red glow of the Vodafone store, they look like silent, eternal sentinels watching the city sleep.
☀️ The Rush Hour: In the daylight, they are part of the daily commute, blending in with the real office workers crossing the road behind them.
It’s a funny thought that while thousands of people rush past them every day, these three "pioneers" remain stuck at the intersection, lunchboxes in hand, wondering why the city moved so fast without them.
📸 RaselOgraphy
