City Scene - 17

Reflections, shadows, lighting, shop windows, graphics, colour - they all come together here to provide a small inner city snapshot of life in the capital city - Wellington. I was standing outside one of the city's popular bars, Hummingbird, on Courtenay Place, watching the people and traffic just as the night lights were coming on - that lovely 'in-between time' when you often get photographic surprises.

Reflecting on Melbourne

It's that time again - when my thoughts turn to Melbourne.

Sadly, I have to wait a few months before I can return, but I've been pottering about in my Melbourne photo files again and here's a few of my favourite cafe and restaurant windows.

Windows, graphics, reflections - always a big attraction for me.

Above, Flinders Station reflected in a pub window.

A whispy set of reflections at the classy Spanish restaurant, Movida Coffea at the Queen Victoria Market

Highrise reflected in the Negroni window

Ito in Chinatown

And some of Ballarat's terrific architecture reflected in the Grand Hotel window.

I still shudder when I remember how baking hot it was the day I visited Ballarat. I fell in love with the place - mostly with its architecture - because certainly the heat just about killed me.....as did missing my footing and falling over and whacking my head on one of those historic stone walls! The stuff of good travel tales.

City Treescapes - Auckland

I love a city stripped bare by winter.

That time when trees 'come to life' in a new 'semi-dormant' way that alludes to a shadowy 'other presence.' I have an active imagination at the best of times and trees seem almost human to me - imbued with a dignity and a beauty

Admirable somehow. Lively and interactive.

Most especially, I love the way winter trees interact with city architecture. For me it's an intriguing coming together of Nature and the manmade - as if one is striving to outdo the other. I took a whole series of photos when I was in Auckland this last winter - strolling along Symonds Street at dusk, observing the contortion of limbs writhing toward the sky, up and across the face of surrounding architecture. One tree skeleton after another seemed to come to life in a new way, with their silhouettes reflected in nearby glass towers.

Mirror images, a tangle of shadows.

Stretched limbs, reaching, scratching against glass and concrete.

There's a purity in all those 'unclad' forms - a severe natural beauty

That comes to life in the afternoon slant of winter light.

When Art Illuminates

I couldn't have been happier when I discovered this neon sculpture by Paul Hartigan in the Faculty of Engineering at Auckland University, as I walked down Symonds Street one wintry afternoon recently. Everything that I love had come together in one place - interesting architecture, glass, art, old/new, skeletal trees and, best of all, a tangle of fascinating reflections - layer upon layer of image, form amd texture.

I had already spent over an hour photographing the dynamic shapes and shadows of winter trees marching up the face of architecture old and new, so finding this whimsy of glowing red forms cavorting across the street and climbing the bare trees outside, was the perfect end to my street wander.

The work itself is Colony 2004 And Hartigan (b.1953) says the following in his concise artist statement:

"I made Colony to enhance and counterpoint the monumentalism of its site: the lecture theatre and surrounding buildings in the Faculty of Engineering. This expansive neon light drawing adds a sense of transition and movement to the space. Clustered elements radiate from a point, then travel towards the perimeter, morphing from semi-figurative motifs to abstract-surrealist gestures.

"Rendered by my trademark graphic style, a synthesis of writing, pictographs and abstraction, the forms appear random, chaotic or free-form but are actually highly considered and carefully placed. The title suggests a collection of related entities with similar goals cohabitating in a new found territory. I chose neon gas for its vital 'living fire' quality. The incendiary persimmon colour of the tubes is the chromatic opposite of the tinted green glass encapsulating the space."

I returned to this work three times while I was in Auckland, every time inspired again - not only for the way it so successfully captures the nature of its 'busy, colonised' environment but simply because I was so drawn to it and the way it appears to 'move and dance' away from its base, to fully interact with that environment via a set of ever-moving, ever-changing reflections. Lovely!

The Peninsula

A Day for Reflection

Mirror Images

Otago Peninsula

May 2010. Ajr

Shadows & Reflections

On a recent tour of Otago Museum in Dunedin, I was stopped in my tracks by this wonderful - almost Zen-like - interplay of shadow and reflection.

A lovely upstairs space in an excellent museum.

Melbourne Reflections

Buildings Within Buildings

Melbourne Highrise

Just off Flinders Lane

March 5, 2010. Ajr

Small Moments of Beauty

One Light

A Myriad of Reflections

A Wavering of Shadows

A Pause for Reflection

I can never go past a good reflection - nor a good crane for that matter. So when the two are combined a photo is inevitable. I had a great time in Auckland in April snapping these images. The top one is a reflection of an apartment block on office windows in Greyts Avenue; the bottome two? Can't be sure but I think I may have taken them on the Auckland Art Gallery construction site.

Bring Back Life

I've made no secret of the fact that I love words and signs but sometimes, in certain contexts, they're a mystery to me. I photographed this phrase through the window of a now-empty fashion store. I have no idea of its relevance but I liked the sense of mystery in that - and the way the o0ld building across the street is reflected in the image. There's just something about all that visual layering in a city that I adore.

Architecture in Shadow

Another set of photos from Christchurch Art Gallery - looking up from Alchemy (the cafe) to the towering rooflines to capture shadows and reflections. There have been occasions when I have found the actual gallery structure more enticing than the works on show within the galleries. I get endless visual pleasure from chasing reflections around the glass facade. Perhaps I ought to find something more productive to do with my time? www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz

Bennett Reflections

Christchurch. August 2009. Ajr

It’s been a while since I brought you any works by Christchurch sculptor, Graham Bennett so here’s one that I snapped at The Art House as I biked passed the gallery last weekend. I was captivated by the shadows as much as the work – no slur on Graham’s sculpture, that’s just the way I am. If you click on Graham Bennett in the label line below this post, you’ll be able to see other beautiful Bennett sculptures and he also appears in my Artist Studios series. www.bennettsculpture.biz www.thearthouse.co.nz

A Reflective Moment in the Capital........

.............in fact................

One of many reflective moments

In the Capital

April 2009 Ajr

People on the Move

A Capital Moment

At Night

From Above

Lambton Quay, Wellington

April 2009 Ajr

On Reflection

A Blur of City High Rise

Reflected

In the Britomart Fountain

Auckland

April 2009 Ajr

Reflecting on Public Art

Okay, so this was a happy accident!

Neil Dawson's Chalice in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, reflected on the windrscreen of a nearby parked car. Another quirky visual art moment in the life and times of AJR.

Perfect Pools

Image courtesy Polynesian Spa, Rotorua. 2009.

Lakeside Rotorua

@

Polynesian Spa

www.polynesianspa.co.nz

On Reflection............

Another Reflective Moment in the Capital

Lambton Quay, Wellington

May 2009. Ajr

www.wellingtonnz.com

Red Wine - A Composition

Red Wine Glasses

After the Event

Auckland. April 2009. Ajr

On Reflection

Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

If you're into photographing high-rise reflections - and I think it's fairly obvious that I am - then Wellington is the place to be. Auckland is okay but Wellington is much better because it's a more compact city and the highrise is packed much more closely together. I was mildly over-excited when I caught this one - down near Civic Square. www.wellingtonnz.com