Nick Gascoine documents the life and times of e-bike empire, Lime. Proclaiming 1.5 million trips across Sydney alone, the neon green bike—and helmet—becomes the subject of a city in motion. Armed with his Canon R5, Nick archives seemingly every imaginable commute. From leisurely coastal cruises to pint-fuelled time trials, Everybody Limes.
Photos: Nick Gascoine.
Following 3 months and more than 8,000 images, Nick kicks the bike stand on his fourth solo exhibition. We took five ahead of the show to discuss inspirations, urban landscapes and hardware.
Everybody Limes kicks off Friday, November 28th, 6pm–9pm, at Alchemy Studio, 90 May St, St Peters NSW 2044. Pull up on ya Lime bike.
Nick, great to have you! First things first, how many Lime bikes are in Sydney Harbour?
Probably not as many as there are O’bikes, haha. Those things were a real scourge on the city at one point in time.
But actually, what inspired Everybody Limes?
I ride around Sydney a lot, and after seeing every type of Sydneysider flying around town, I just felt like I had to start documenting it. The Lime bike catches people in the middle of their day—they haven’t dressed to ride a bike, and I think that’s what’s so interesting about it. The bikes have become part of the urban landscape in ways that other public transport is—adorned with graffiti and the sweat of its citizens. But after shooting hundreds of riders, I’ve gotta say, there are a lot of people getting around town in Crocs!
Any surprises shooting this project?
How many great steak restaurants there are around town. I’d finish shooting and type ‘steak frites’ into Google Maps and find a local restaurant. I had a lot of great interaction in those places too, staff and punters would ask about the camera hanging around my neck and what I was photographing. If I went back to the same place, I’d often have the staff tell me with great excitement about a Lime rider they’d seen who was unique. Top 3 steak frites that I enjoyed along my journey—Alfies, Table Manners, Bistro Rex.
What role do Lime bikes play in Sydney's urban landscape? Are they a permanent fixture?
It’s here to stay by the looks of it. Maybe there’s a place further down the road where the government can actually offer a public commuter bike that’s free of charge. I really think Sydneysiders enjoy riding, and with more dedicated bike paths around Sydney nowadays people are less hesitant to commute by bike.
How do your roots in BMX influence your shooting style?
It’s very much like the rider’s eye type thing. Once you start looking for something in the landscape, you begin to see it everywhere. At times I’d look for spots with nice light or compositions in the landscape and wait for a Lime rider to enter the frame, other times I’d be riding along on my gravel bike, shooting as they passed by. That’s been my approach to shooting BMX in the past, and it’s worked well in this context too.
Lastly, what hardware are you running?
I’ve recently moved to the Canon mirrorless system, the R5 Mk II. It’s an insanely impressive camera—although it did take some time to fine-tune the settings to get the feel of a traditional SLR.
98% of the series was shot on either the Canon 50mm 1.2L or the Canon 135mm f/2. I really favoured the 135mm because of the way it sandwiches the frame—separating the rider from the background and bringing the bike into a single plane of focus. And for a couple of frames I used the Sigma 12–24mm.
My exposures were generally f/3.2 with a shutter speed above 1/2000th of a second. I’d use AV (aperture priority) and control my shutter speed by adjusting the ISO. Sometimes I’d be shooting 12,000 ISO to maintain the high shutter speed, and it was no problem.
