The photographers that compelled me to pick up a camera were my New Zealand compatriots. There’s something special about seeing your own backyard through the eyes of an artist. I’ll list them from when and how they fit into my personal photographic journey.
ANS WESTRA CNZM
The first time I really connected with photographs was when viewing Ans Westra’s work in my early 20s. This was the first time I experienced the ‘brain ping’ (my terminology for feeling the excitement in art). Her photographs helped me understand how photography can depict social history through different viewpoints.
Born in the Netherlands, Westra came to New Zealand in the late 1950s aged 21. She was ‘put on the map’ when her series Washday at the Pa was published in a primary school journal in 1964 but then withdrawn. The body of work remains controversial: This was in response to claims that it reinforced a stereotype of Māori as living in underprivileged circumstances. It was true that the family Westra photographed were materially poor but what the critics overlooked was how Westra captured the warmth of family life and the rich and happy existence of its children.
Click on these links to see Westra's photographs:
JOHN PASCOE
Viewing John Pascoe’s work (in my early 20s) showed me how photography can capture the photographer’s personality, adding extra layers of meaning to photographs. It also demonstrated how small New Zealand is. It turns out he was the grandfather of my school friend. Her mother featured in many of his photos. At this point in time my own story, I didn't considering pursuing photography. I just knew I loved looking at photographs and the stories they told.
Pascoe was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1908 and became a mountaineer, writer, photographer and archivist. His serpentine career style is one I aspire to. He became the illustrations editor for centennial magazine Making New Zealand after writing to the Department of Internal Affairs asking for a job. He was then appointed official war photographer in New Zealand. Nice hustling! Pascoe was never interested in photography as technical trickery, nor as puffery and propaganda. Influenced by the British documentary film-makers and American photojournalism, he wanted to capture the human realism of his subjects’ lives.
Pascoe’s adventures and family life are an important part of his work, so I recommend checking out the book John Pascoe by Chris MacLean. Because I’m a novice architecture geek, I also go out of my way to photograph buildings designed by John’s twin brother Paul Pascoe who is considered a pioneer of modernist architecture.
DOC ROSS
Fast-forward to 2016 - it's been 15 years since first seeing Westra's and Pascoe's photographs and getting the good brain pings. Devastating earthquakes in 2010/2011 have changed everything in my home town, including the psyche and priorities of the local population.
I first came across Doc Ross’ photographs on social media. His images of Christchurch evoked a powerful emotional response from people who were mourning their city. These were the photos that motivated me into studying photography for the next three years. I wanted to make photographs of ‘normal’ scenes and events that give people a brain ping and help them appreciate what they have around them like Doc Ross' photographs did for me. Born in 1955 in Eketahuna, photographer Doc Ross has spent the last two decades recording urban landscapes in all their changing situations. Since moving to Christchurch in 1998, he has been described as one of the city’s “most intimate biographers”, tracking the changing city before and after the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.
Click on these links to see Ross' photographs:
LAURENCE ABERHART
One of my assignments for my photography study was to recreate a photo in the style of Laurence Aberhart. This was my favourite assignment (just beating the Cindy Sherman assignment which I might share another time!)
Aberhart planned to be a primary teacher, but only had one teaching job before becoming a photographer. Aberhart’s photographs of buildings make my heart sing. The composition, lines, and angles soothe my ADHD brain. I can imagine how the building smells and sounds. Although he’s well-known for photographing buildings, I would most like to be his assistant in the late 1970s when he photographed musicians (eg David Bowie, The Ramones) for magazines Rip It Up and Extra. One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most perceptive artists, Laurence Aberhart is a photographer who makes images of the vanishing past in an accelerating world.
Click on these links to see Aberhart’s work:
MARTI FRIEDLANDER CNZM
Martha Friedlander grew up in a Jewish orphanage in London and studied photography after receiving a scholarship for Camberwell School of Art. She emigrated to New Zealand in 1958 with her husband and continued photography.
When I need inspiration for photographing people, I look to Marti Friedlander’s work – particularly capturing relationships between her subjects. I also love that she advocated for women’s rights in her photography. Friedlander died in 2016 just as I was learning about her work.
I've learned so much from these New Zealand photographers - particularly about finding beauty in the every day, and understanding different viewpoints and opinions.
Find your favourites, and start in your own community to learn who is telling the stories relevant to you.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Hi.This blog shares tips and tricks for you to get involved with photography, and keeps you up to date with my exhibitions and shenanigans. Archives
February 2024
Categories
All
|