The Damned

I don't think I'd been to Karapiro town prior to a couple of months back. Didn't pay it much attention mind. But look at the dam. And the lake. (I quite like the donuts myself.)

The Rooms

Continuing my work on the rooms I've stayed in. These are from a couple of months back. Auckland. Palmerston North. Auckland. Turangi.

The Rant

Yeah so yesterday I was doing a walk around town and I popped into a secondhand bookshop, found their photography section and was tossing up what if anything to buy when I peeked around the back of the stack and saw a spine with the word "Minamata". I knew I was going to buy it before I'd even looked through or checked the price.

Why? Because it is both a classic photojournalist book and a classic environmentalist book. Published in 1975 (mine's a first edition) it featured the work of renowned photographer and control freak W. Eugene Smith and his wife Aileen Smith.

It tells the story of Minamata. I've only read the first few pages, and I knew the basic story, and it's harrowing. See wikipedia for the details.

In the prologue, and remember this is 1970, Smith writes "Obviously there is no doubt in our minds that the world has got itself into terrible trouble through pollution. Let me amend that; "the world" sounds too remote, too abstract. Persons like us and our neighbors are right now being poisoned through the air, the water, the food we must have. ... whether the poison is mercury, or asbestos, or food additives, or radiation, or something else [it] is closing more tightly upon us each day. Pollution growth is still running far ahead of any anti-pollution conscience."

This was 30 years ago, 10 years after Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring' kick started an environmentalist movement, and things haven't changed a great deal. Maybe I'm just saddened about this mess of ours after seeing Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth' but it does make me think.

Oh and by the way, the photos are beautiful, the text superbly written, and the printing the best I have seen in a photography book from the 1970's. I may let people look at it if they come round to my place, and bring their own cotton gloves.

The King

Funny how things happen. I was over at Weta today with Matt Grace photographing some chick for some magazine. Afterwards I came back to try and sort out the office I moved into a few months ago and I came across these.



That's Mike and me on the set of King Kong! (I say on 'the' set cos that makes it sound really impressive, when in fact as you can see it's only 'a' set. But still that's closer than most of you got so I can still gloat.) Anyway we were there helping LA photographer Art Streiber take some shots of various crew - you know the Oscar winner types.

Please note the blue gel on the top shot, the warmer feel of the second shot, and the developing pot belly on the guy on the right (suck it in you fat bastard!).

The Circus

Look a little closer. Driving into a city and seeing an elephant wandering around is something you might expect to see in Nairobi, or Vic Falls, you know someplace exotic and African (or Asian, but I ain't been, so I ain't seen) city/town/village. Not Palmerston North. But there you have it. Bizarre.

At least it was until I worked out why. It's the circus come to town. Can we go, Mum? Can we? Can we? Mum, can we? Aawwww Mum, can we go?! Muuummmmmm!!

The Recreation

I don’t know about the rest of you but I do find photography edifying for the soul. This year, for various reasons (and I could give you half a dozen) I haven’t done much photography for myself – especially when at home.

And, I know, again for various reasons (and again I could give you those same half dozen), I haven’t been the most enthusiastic about photography this year – though this may come as a surprise to regular readers of this self-absorded ego boost, but I’m talking in generalisations here.

However, I’ve started taking photos again. Mulling on a couple of ideas to see where they lead me. I think it helps that 1) I’ve had a lot of work the last couple of months and 2) I have two, possibly three, shows next year, out of town. That gives me reason.

I’ve said it before (though I don’t think it was in any public forum kind of way) and I’ll say it again. I like who I am when I’m photographing. It constantly surprises me that I can be in a grump, go take a photo or two and feel like a completely different person. Long may it continue.

Here then are two images I took on Sunday. Purely because I liked them in a Joel Sternfeld Stephen Shore kind of way.

The Craters

One camera. One roll of film. One location. Twelve images. God I'm good.

I don't know if you can tell but I was struggling for ideas by the end. It's a good experiment to try though.

The College

Ahhh, high school. First girlfriends. First pimples. First exam stresses. First real fights. First shaves. First alcohol purchases. First alcohol-related illnesses. First self-directed fashion disasters. First indie bands. First crushes on teachers - well one to be precise and every straight male in the school had the same crush.

Here are my high school years.







First one to name everyone correctly to the best of my recollection wins a prize - to be determined by me at time of prize-giving. Go on give it a go, it'll be fun. I've got money down on stiltfeeder getting closest but I reckon he can only do about 25%. And just to help you there is at least one nationally recognisable face in there if you look hard enough.

The Rose

This shot was my first "commercial" job, in that I was "commissioned" to take the photo, rather than it being my idea. And like most people's first commercial job it took a lot longer and cost more money than expected - after expenses I think I made about $100 to cover my time (about $14 an hour). Can't remember what I ended up shooting this on - think it may have been three 6x17 trannies comped together (not by me). Still it's quite a nice shot for what it is, and it should be pride of place in the Auckland home of the clients.

The Autumnal

The Curator

I know most of you aren't in Wellington, some of you aren't even in this country, but cos it's happening and it is all about me I'm letting you know that my first exhibition as curator is now on in Wellington at Photospace. I even made a website for it for those of you too far away or too lazy to see it in person. If you happen to be in, or passing through, Wellington in the next 3 weeks I urge you to pop in, have a look, buy a work, and grab a catalogue. It's good.

Well it's okay. It's quite nice I spose. Nah seen better. It's shit. What a waste.

File under: Art

The Green

The Rest

The Couch

That's Nifty and Brad (or Neville and Grant as they prefer to be known) carrying the soon to be famous (in NZ anyway) couch. The things you do eh?! And even though it's completely out of context for you all at the moment you may be impressed by the fact that I actually got to sit on the couch - albeit in the back of a 4WD heading up the mountain, but that's more than most of the crew got (not that I'm one to brag or anything).

The Track

I've always had a thing for tracks. I think it's cos they fit really nicely into my "trace of humanity" thing. You know evidence of our existence without actually showing us. That kind of postmodern, western-centric I'm-a-deep-Artist-selling-shit-you-can't-comprehend bullshit. (Is it a good thing that I'm so cynical sometimes - even about myself?!)

Anyway, for those of you who haven't been to Tukino, this is as far as you can go in a 2-wheel drive.


This is where I nearly got rundown - by the first car (that wasn't part of our party) to come along in the 4 hours we were up the mountain!


Isn't snow just so pretty?


Oooh. Footprints. Gee that's original! But how could I resist? Especially when you consider that these very footprints were created by nine people stepping in the same tracks, going up and down. I did the journey at least a dozen times. Bloody fussy film crews!!


Oh, and by the way the NZJP is now out so you can go buy your own copy and revel in my famy. Those in Wellington should try Magnetix first off as they always stock it.

The Porch

It's a porch. It's at Simon's house. We did a shoot there one day. He took the money shots. I took this one.

The Driveby

Yeah so I finally found a use for the south Waikato stretch of State Highway 1 - you know besides driving. Photos. Cruising along at a pretty pace in a brand new just-off-the-ship-into-and-out-of-the-studio-on-its-way-to-head-office car - the blue one in this slideshow to be exact. With the light fading, using a camera with only one shutter speed, not being able to frame up it, and not wanting to stop, made for less than perfect picture taking conditions but the results are quite nice.







I just hope the boss doesn't find out about my recklessness as I'll be out of a job there. Oh well.