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Canterbury Landscape

 
 
Recently, I have been going through
files of earlier photos,
many of them images
I haven’t looked at for
years.
 
Here is one,
 Canterbury Landscape
taken on the 
15th June 2006.
 

Te Henui Vicarage

 
 
Built in 1843 
this is one of the
oldest buildings in 
New Zealand.
 
Situated in central New Plymouth,
It is built from stones
hauled up by bullocks 
from the 
Te Henui river which
runs nearby,
and from limestone
from Nelson.


It is possible that 
Frederick Thatcher,
Bishop Selwyn’s architect
had a hand in 
the design of this
building.



 
 

Flight Simulator

 
 
Here in New Plymouth we have a technological museum.
One of the exhibits is this Link Trainer, Link being
the name of the designer.
 
It came from the Air Force, but is in need of 
a large amount of restoration. 

Californian Quail

 
 
This old friend turned up today
in an online catalogue sent out
in Arrowtown. I had almost
forgotten about this photo of mine.
The old friend is not just the photo
however, but also the bird itself
because it was one of a large
number living around the house
where I spent a year.
This was about an hours drive
from Arrowtown.
I fed them with seed mixes
so they became very friendly,
even venturing inside if I allowed it.
This particular quail was standing
on a high vantage point and watching over
the safety of the others.

Tony’s Toys

 
 
I took this photo about 3 years ago,
and have had it on my bathroom wall
for the last two. I never went beyond making
one print. I wanted to think about the image
before I made the expensive decision to print
an edition, although I did exhibit this particular print a couple
of times.
 
I keep looking at this photo in terms of the
flat planes of colour that compose the image.
 
For some time I’ve been looking for a photo that
I’d taken that would work in needlepoint.
Perhaps this image could be treated that way.
Those flat planes make it much easier to
render in thread.
 
Even as a boy I was interested in needlepoint but never really
took it up other than in a sporadic way.
My mother did encourage me though and she
had as a young woman been a seamstress
in Karangahape Road.
 
I’ve heard my stitching described as ‘tortured’
so I wouldn’t stitch it myself.
 
Meanwhile, lately, I ‘ve been
thinking that I will after all print an edition
of the photographic version.
 

Waitara

 
 
As I was taking the photograph
of Laurence in the previous post, the one below,
I was also looking, with my camera, in the direction of the Tasman,
an empty ocean that spreads a thousand miles to
Australia.
 

Two

 
 
 
A week or so ago I was in Norsewood,
a small town less that an hour north of
Palmerston North on the road to Napier. It was called
Norsewood by the Scandinavian
settlers who colonised the area.
 
Using my new Leica, which has
a fiercely powerful telephoto
lens, I was able to reach this photo.
 
I cannot explain why
but the image of these
two tree stumps
connects with me
on quite a deep emotional level.

Looming Mythic Mountain

 
 
This was the view of Mt Taranaki from my sitting room
a couple of evenings ago.
 
Coincidentally, if there is such a thing,
I have been reading Bright Star, a biography
of Beatrice Hill Tinsley written by
Christine Cole Catley. It is breathtakingly
good .
 
Christine Cole Catley who went to New Plymouth Girls High
as did Tinsley, later wrote the centennial history of that school.
In her biography of Beatrice Hill Tinsley she describes Mt Taranaki as that ‘looming mythic mountain.’
 
Beatrice Hill Tinsley was well on her way
to becoming one of the great astronomers
of our age, until melanoma cut her down at the early age of 40.
 
 
 

Tonight in Wellington

 
 
 
Tonight in Wellington six of my photographs
are in an exhibition opening at Hamish McKay
 
This is one of my favourites. It’s called
Holy Tomato. The foot I bought in Bali
and the Italian tomato I borrowed from
a friend.
 
Whilst it’s my personal favourite it always
seems to evoke mixed feelings.
Still, I’m hanging in there.
 
 
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