Architecture in the Provinces

I am fascinated by old buildings in small New Zealand towns – especially old banks, rural town halls and small-town club buildings. They say so much about the sociological fabric of our country, yet sadly they continue to disappear as towns make way for the new. I know many photographers who share a passion for photographing old buildings and of course New Zealand photographer, the late Robin Morrison was an early forerunner in capturing these great little ‘architectural nuggets.’

When I was over in Hokitika last week, I noticed that a number of the old buildings there are now being preserved – I’m not always a fan of flashy coats of paint but it is good to see that someone has colonised these old relics and made them tidy and sound enough to endure a few more decades yet. The old bank building (lower image) is now home (upstairs) to a local craftsman, who makes his sculptures in the downstairs rooms; and directly across the street, another old bank building has been converted into a popular theatre space (top image).

StreetscapeNZ - 41

Main Street, Dannevirke

Lower North Island

May 2009. Ajr

Showtime 1 - The Culture of Racing

I was sorting through my Australian Outback photo files the other day when I came upon these ones from the annual Noorama Picnic Races that I attended in 2008. Noorama is miles from anywhere. You probably won’t even find it on a map – it is after all, little more than the recreational centre that was formed in the mid-1900s as a meeting place for the farming community’s sporting and social activities. Yet in the South West Queensland outback, Noorama is legendary. The district dates back to the 1880s and has a rich pastoral history; and the Noorama Picnic Race Club is the jewel in the region’s social crown. Formed in 1964, it held its first race meeting on May 14th 1966 with 43 horses competing for A$365 worth of trophies. It was a huge hit and today people still travel hundreds of kilometres to attend the three-day event. Forty-two years on, the 2008 five-event programme offered prize money in excess of A$31,000 and the feature race – the Noorama Cup – was worth A$7,900.

Located on Noorama Station, almost one hundred kilometres southeast of the tiny outback town of Cunnamulla, Noorama is isolated. It took me 14 hours to get there from Christchurch and I flew most of the way - via Brisbane followed by a two-hour flight to Charleville, a two-hour drive to Cunnamulla (where I was given a hot pink jackaroo hat for the occasion) and another two-hour drive further south to Noorama. By the time I arrived it was just after 5pm on a Friday night and I felt as though I had been to London and back. My pink jackaroo hat was on a nasty lean, I was dusty, over-heated, tired and wondering what I had let myself in for. The race track was all but deserted, there wasn’t a horse in sight and I was still pondering the mystery of why the plane’s flight attendant had given such detailed lifejacket instructions - given that we were flying over a vast, shrivelled outback landscape and the chances of our crashing into water seemed highly improbable.

My outback hosts were kindly. They propped me up in a chair with a bottle of water, trying for their part to digest the fact that they had landed themselves a non-drinking, non-smoking Kiwi journalist who didn’t eat meat and had never attended a race meeting in her life. Noorama promised to be a learning curve for us all. And so it was. My first lesson the Friday night Calcutta – the pre-race horse auction - kicked off around 6pm just as I began thinking about sleep. Locals arrived in a steady stream of dust and congregated around the bar in the biggest marquee. Everyone was primed for action, the barbecue was fired up and the auctioneer started the bids. And that’s all I remember of my first night at Noorama. I fell asleep to the pleasant drone of outback hilarity and the sizzle of gigantic steaks.

By 11am the next day, it was 28-degrees and the first horse floats were pulling up to the open-air stables. Horses were being hosed down, brushed and fitted with nose-bags; track preparations were underway; the First Aid team had arrived; the bookies were setting up; and the first fancy hats were bobbing among the growing crowd. The energy was infectious. Ladies in their race-day finery banded together, swigging champagne and preparing the members’ pre-race cocktails and treats. Men strutted around the grounds clutching beer cans and brushing flies from their Akubras. Jockeys gave the track a pre-race check; and kids of all ages ran free and wild.

Later, as the horses turned for the straight, locals in fancy race-day outfits leaned over the rails cheering for their favourites. Glasses of champagne spilt over, hearts pounded, fists pumped the air and the loud speaker was drowned out by hooves thundering down the dirt track. It was a dramatic scene set against enormous cloud-filled skies and parched red dirt that hadn’t seen rain for seven years; and as the locals yelled and cheered in 35-degree autumn heat, I thought how similar race meetings were the world over. And now, with spring in the air here in Christchurch, racing fans are already thinking about the annual New Zealand Cup and Show Week in November – a crazy extravaganza of six major horse racing events, fashion awards, international rodeo events, the Royal New Zealand Show and more. This year, New Zealand Cup and Show Week runs from November 7-14 and you can find out more about how we do the whole race-day thing here in Christchurch by checking out www.nzcupandshow.co.nz And this year, my appetite whetted by my Noorama race day experiences, I'll be checking out everything the Christchurch week of racing festivities has to offer!

A Crucifix and a Dome

A Perfect Visual Moment Catholic Church Hokitika, West Coast

A West Coast Church Moment

When I visited Hokitika on the South Island's West Coast last weekend, the weather was perfect. I took no time at all to find the town's magnificent Catholic Church - though it must be said that the town isn't big and the church is! I love church architecture and I took dozens of photos of this beauty at different times of the day. And on the Sunday I went back again expecting to find the church packed with people. I was obviously too late getting out of bed - I suppose the Catholics were all up at a dawn mass or something and long since finished by the time I arrived - which suited me because it meant I could tip-toe into the church to take a look all by myself. I expected something marvellous and was greatly disappointed. The inside was austere and it smelt decidedly fusty - in short, it failed to live up to the architectural promise of the grand exterior. I would have loved to have found a way up into the gorgeous bell tower but in these days of rigorous safety precautions, I suppose that's long-since been locked up. Lovely to admire from ground level nonetheless!

Te Papa - Another View

The Museum of New Zealand

Te Papa Tongarewa

Wellington

April 2009 Ajr

A Trick of the Eye.....

...or is it?

Lights.Curtains.Artworks

Luminous Layers

Skycity Grand Hotel, Auckland

April 2009 Ajr

Shoe Shuffle

By Nude

In Nuffield Street

Newmarket, Auckland

April 2009. Ajr

An Exploration of Place

Image Courtesy of Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare O Rehua - Whanganui Around twenty-two years ago when I lived in Wanganui, I worked with now-Christchurch-based New Zealand sculptor, Andrew Drummond, weaving willows to create the sculptural pieces for his incredible Dome installation at Wanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery. Andrew was the Tylee Cottage Artist-in-Residence at the time. Ever since then, I have been intrigued to see how the many artists since have responded to the gallery’s Dome space – I’ve even featured one or two of them here on this blog (just click Sarjeant Gallery in the label line below if you’d like to see them). Now it’s the turn of celebrated senior New Zealand artist, Bill Culbert. Culbert (b.1935), divides his time between London and France and this work – Bill Culbert 180˚ x 2 Whanganui (shown above) – is the only one he has completed for a museum during his time in New Zealand for the launch of the monograph of his life’s work, “Making Light Work,” which has been written by Ian Wedde and published by Auckland University Press. (He has also created a work which is showing at Auckland's Sue Crockford Gallery). Culbert spent three days in Wanganui back in 2008 noting ‘the ordinary’ in his surroundings – “vernacular architecture, tyre marks and architectural debris in salvage yards” – at the same time sensing and noting the power of the Whanganui River that runs through the town. According to the Sarjeant's senior curator, Greg Anderson, Culbert's resulting installation within the space is "an exploration of space, spatial reference and harmonies of theory and concrete reality. It is a re-telling of his experience and understanding of Wanganui, firmly and critically placed within the Dome area, which acts as the work's frame and context." “It is one of the characteristics of Culbert’s work that, as an artist, he seems to be ‘plugged in’ to the power and vigour of places and objects,” says Greg Anderson. “This kind of understanding, of the nature of things, imbues his installations with a depth greater than their sole sculptural appeal……In his pictures (eight large scale photographs of local sites) of Wanganui scenes, in his placement of fluorescent light tubing, he gives us and asks us, in our mind’s eye, to take a journey to the places he’s found and to experience the emotions and sensations he discovered during his Wanganui expedition.” Culbert’s show at Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare O Rehua - Whanganui runs until November 29, 2009. www.sarjeant.org.nz

Turn Me On

We're back with 'Coral/Floral' the best-selling lightshade by internationally-regarded New Zealand designer, David Trubridge. This fitting has made numerous appearances on this blog - just because I love photographing it in different locations. Click on David's name in the index line below this blog and you'll see some of the other versions I've snapped. www.davidtrubridge.com

StreetscapeNZ - 40

Courtenay Place

Wellington

April 2009. Ajr

Barry's Provocative Unpublished Minutes - 62

A 2009 work by leading New Zealand printmaker, Barry Cleavin - continuing his wonderful series exclusive to this blog. To see others, click on Cleavin in the label line below this post.

Mountainscape

Just one of the many stunning mountainscapes I passed on my way to and from the West Coast a few days ago. This is how dawn looks in Porter's Pass Porters Pass. August 2009. Ajr

If You're a Believer.........

High Street, Christchurch. August 2009. Ajr

Cool Cars - 51

One Shiny Blue Corvette Convertible - Spotted in a Christchurch car park.

A Perfect Day in the West

Lake Kaniere, West Coast. August 2009. Ajr

I'm a little short on time this morning, so I'm bringing you some pleasing scenic shots from the West Coast. I've never been a huge fan of the West Coast of the South Island - for a start there is the foul, constantly wet weather; but I have to say all that was blown into the wind over the last few days. I spent three days in Hokitika and every one of them was brilliantly warm and sunny. I drove 19 kilometres inland from the coast on Sunday - for the first time ever - and came upon Lake Kaniere. As you can see from the photos here, it was perfect tourist-snap weather.

Lake Kaniere, West Coast August 2009. Ajr Lake Kaniere is the second largest of the West Coast lakes after Lake Brunner. It's eight kilometres long and two kilometres wide and is 195 metres deep. I drove through the Kaniere Scenic Reserve - fern-filled, dark, mossy, mysterious - intent upon driving right around the perimeter of the lake. The road turned to gravel and became narrower by the minute and as I wound around each bend, I felt like I was driving into a film set from 'Lord of the Rings.' I was just thinking how awful it would be to break down in the middle of this remote, silent, slightly forbidding area, when I rounded a narrow bend and came face to face with a mass of fallen trees blocking the road. My heart sank. I'm not good with heights and given that the road fell away, straight into the lake on one side and into a wide, muddy 'gutter' on the other, I wondered how I would ever get out. I sat there for a few minutes, hoping some miracle might happen, that I might be rescued by some gallant bushman but in the end there was nothing for it but to try and turn the car around myself. I broke into a sweat and about 36 tiny turning movements later, I was facing back the way I came. I must say I felt rather intrepid and I glowed with pride as I headed back to civilisation. Small things like that please me I've decided. One thing is for sure though, I won't be trying to circumnavigate Lake Kaniere again any time soon!

Morning News

Taking a Vittoria Coffee Break

Reading the News

Ponsonby Road, Auckland.

April 2009. Ajr

Small Moments of Beauty

White Nautilus

Glass Shelf

Auckland Museum

April 2009 Ajr

Reversible

A little bit of Cuba Mall's 'subculture'.

Heartland Wellington Love it!

Down an Alley

Auckland April 2009 Ajr

I came upon Auckland's Elliott Stables by accident - killing time before a hotel inspection, I wandered off down a few side streets and there it was, a cluster of cafes, food providers, wine shops, delis and such - a nice little addition to the inner citscape.

On Reflection

A Blur of City High Rise

Reflected

In the Britomart Fountain

Auckland

April 2009 Ajr

Museum and Art Gallery Redevelopment Announced

Image Courtesy Hawke's Bay Museum & Art Gallery Great news announced last night! The Napier City Council has launched a $17-million plan to redevelop the Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery and this is what it will look like - I think anyone who knows the existing building will agree this is a HUGE improvement. The redevelopment will kick off in mid-2010 and director of the museum and gallery, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins says he is committed to retaining the history and character of the current building while introducing light and space, and making better use of existing areas. "Our exhibitions are innovative and extremely well-received and we have some of the best collections in New Zealand but a lack of space means we aren't always able to fulfil our potential," he says. "This project aims to re-package the outside to match the wealth of objects and projects outside." The redevelopment will make full use of the existing architectural features and it will add more storage, work space and archive rooms. A work by one of my favourite New Zealand artist, Sara Hughes will also run the length and height of the facade of the new building, creating a striking first impression for visitors. Sara's work at Christchurch Art Gallery last year had a real WOW factor and you can see that if you put her name into my blog's search box, above left. It goes without saying that the redeveloped building will be equally enlivened by her bright, bold expression. The Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery has a rich history of cutting edge architecture. The first wing was designed by acclaimed Art Deco architect Louis Hay in the 1930s. The Century Theatre, which has become the cornerstone of culture and performance in Hawke's Bay, was designed in the 1970s by leading modernist architect, Guy Natusch; and the architect for the 2010 redevelopment is Richard Daniels of Opus International Consulting. Daniels was the lead architect on the Staples Rodway Building in Hastings and the new Hawke's Bay Regional Council offices in Napier. A project website has been set up and you can view redevelopment progress from today - August 8th - at http://www.forus.org.nz/. More information on Sara Hughes, who works with bold colour and repetitive pattern on a grand scale, can be found at http://www.sarahughes.co.nz/

From the Food Files

Truffle Salad

Food & Photo by Queenstown Chef Ben Batterbury

True South at The Rees Hotel & Luxury Apartments

www.therees.co.nz

Meet Ben by clicking on his name in the index line below this post.

Flying High

Image Courtesy Real Journeys - www.realjourneys.co.nz

Fiordland National Park at the bottom of the South Island is home to some of the most dramatic scenery in New Zealand. This 1.2 million hectare World Heritage Site - which accounts for more than 40% of New Zealand's national park area - is largely unpopulated and as the jagged, unforgiving mountains stride across the land they create a network of spectacular fiords and inlets - pristine and inhospitable at the same time. It's been said many times but it IS the wildest, wettest and remotest part of New Zealand. Two main lakes Te Anau and Manapouri sit at the northern edge of Fiordland and its two most famous Fiords, Doubtful and Milford Sound are the core of tourism activities in the region. I've never really ventured into Fiordland - there are few people who could say they have; although I have been to Te Anau and Milford Sound several times in my role as travel guide writer. Personally I have no real urge to go beyond that - into Doubtful Sound perhaps - but further afield just seems too daunting and forbidding for me. I'm not one for hacking my way through inpenetrable bush for the sake of it, although I must say the region does still hold a certain mysterious allure. It's just the sort of place you might expect to find some long lost tribe and in fact there have been discoveries of long-lost wildlife...as in 1948 when the flightless takahe, previously thought to have been extinct, was rediscovered in the Murchison Mountains.

Food Basket

Adelaide, South Australia. 2007. Ajr

Don’t be fooled by Adelaide’s reputation as the hottest, driest state capital in Australia; this charming, cosmopolitan hub of 1.2 million people is a veritable food basket – a wine and food connoisseur’s dream destination. It’s green, gorgeous, gastronomically blessed. Thanks to ideal growing conditions and a balmy Mediterranean climate, South Australia produces almost 65% of Australian wine exports by volume and there are over 300 cellar doors, most of them within a 90-minute drive of Adelaide. The city – Australia’s fifth largest - is surrounded by twelve main food regions including the famous wine producing Barossa and Clare Valleys, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsular; and with a population that includes over 150 settling nationalities it has an enticing culinary diversity broad enough to please any palate. The city itself has over 700 restaurants, reputedly more per head of population than any other in Australian city; and with streets filled with markets, lively cafes and restaurants it’s hard to resist the urge to eat. At the heart of it all – and one of my favourite Adelaide places, is the Central City Market – a busy gathering bulging with people, goodies and photographic opporuntities. Now 132 years old, Central Market is an institution. Founded in 1869 by a small group of gardeners, this South Australian icon now welcomes over eight million visitors a year and has a huge impact on the city’s dining scene. Covering three acres, it features around eighty businesses (99% of them family-owned), food from at least fifty different cultures and most of it grown within a 20-kilometre radius of the market. It’s open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday the market is gourmet heaven. From dawn to dusk it presents a colourful mix of fresh vegetables, spices, meat, fish, fruit and more exotic treats –everything from an Aussie take on the traditional Kiwi pavlova to Russian piroshki, gourmet cheeses, old fashioned boiled sweets, Italian pizzas, dried meats, chocolates, pastries, steaming laksa, dried fruits, exotic breads and oysters. The city’s chefs come and go collecting their daily produce and in between people of all ages – families, lawyers, police, judges, firemen – congregate to “shoot the breeze and drink coffee.” It’s shopping the way shopping should be – the old style where people come face-to-face with their suppliers. It’s an organic, ever-changing phenomenon that Adelaide is – rightly - immensely proud of. www.southaustralia.com

Visual Connections

I am a gatherer of things. One peek through the windows of my house would show you that. Every room is a testament to the layer upon layer of visual stimulii and memory that I have gathered over a lifetime so far. I am fascinated by the whole concept of collecting – why we even have the urge, what we choose to collect and how we choose to display it – or not, as the case may be. I have thought long and hard about why I surround myself with so much stuff – much of it completely valueless in a monetary sense. I’m not sure I have come up with any concrete and completely satisfying answers but I do know it is not about materialism. For me it is more about the notion of things – colours, textures, forms and the subtle combinations of all three – triggering some deeply-stored memory. For the writer and artist in me, those memories form the rich, creative storehouse that feeds and drives my output. I couldn’t be without them - and believe me I've tried. Not all creative people work and think this way or course; not all respond to visual stimulii; and those who gather things are not all engaged in creative pursuits. I was reminded of this recently when I stayed with friends in Auckland. I went about photographing things in their house – the things they have arranged to stamp their home with an individuality that can’t readily be replicated; at least not replicated in any way that comes from the heart. I saw recurring colours, recurring patterns, repeated forms, often-missed links – as the photographs here aptly demonstrate. It pleased me. More than that, it excited and inspired me and gave me a deeper insight into them as people.

I have returned to this topic on this blog many times and now that I sit here considering the matter (looking at my office windowsill crammed full with its little displays of birds’ eggs, seed pods, wooden cotton reels, feathers, stones, cones and a small Buddha), I am also reminded of an interview I did for a magazine last year. The owner was a complex character with a huge and impressive collection of modern art, furniture, design items, antiques and quirky collectibles.

It was like stepping inside a small private museum curated by someone with an inherent understanding of what moved them visually, emotionally and intellectually. Every space had a purpose and every treasure a place. It was an interior that combined history, design principles and personal stories. “I am a hunter and a gatherer,” the owner said. “But it is more than just collecting. It is about the manifestation of a certain consciousness – the almost subconscious gathering of aesthetically pleasing things that are subtly linked. Things are put together around central themes - that is what makes a house alive. The more contemporary downstairs is all about looking forward and outward and the more traditional upstairs is about looking backwards and inwards.” To illustrate his point, he drew attention to the simple black and white design elements in twelve fabric posters made in 1852 by the London Workingmen’s Educational Union (discovered in a Christchurch antique shop) and the stylistic similarities they shared with the exquisite hand-painted Fornisetti desk from Fornisetti in Milan. “It all comes together around subtle connections,” he said. “Individual items become something different when they are placed within a certain context. They expand and become alive – full of soul and spirit.” Someone else who has written about this subject recently is Christchurch art historian, Cheryl Bernstein. You can read her excellent piece "The Accidental Curator" on her blog, http://cherylbernstein.blogspot.com

StreetscapeNZ - 39

Main Street, Taihape

Central North Island

April 2009. Ajr

Pining for Victoria

Rural Victoria, Australia. 2008. Ajr

Every year about this time my head and my heart start yearning for Melbourne and rural Victoria. The first glimmer of spring here in Christchurch and I begin thinking about my annual pilgrimage across the ditch to catch up with family and friends. It’s a time to indulge myself in the pleasures of my favourite Australian city; a time to explore, to wander down lanes and backstreets; a time to leap on a tram or a train and rediscover the sprawling suburbs; a time to lounge about in cafes eating too many too-rich cakes and then walking them off with my camera slung over one shoulder. It’s a time to rev up the car and head out into the countryside to discover what lies down the dusty, gum-lined side roads; a time to consider the fabric of the little communities tucked into those potentially volatile gum forests. It’s a time to be dragged out into the perishing heat on long walks with dogs and rock climbers; and most of all it’s a time for me to once again live the divine pleasure that is ‘the discovery of travel.’ I usually set up my ‘base camp’ in the little town of Woodend, about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne (or a very pleasurable one hour commute on the very efficient train system) and I spread out in all directions from there. It’s not far from Hanging Rock - that eerie little spot made famous by the Joan Lindsay novel, “Picnic at Hanging Rock” – (click on Hanging Rock below and you can read all about it), which is where I discovered Hanging Rock Winery on my 2007 visit (that's it in the top left photo). The nice thing about this part of Australia is that it comes with enough similarities to New Zealand to make it feel very comfortable and easy - familiar almost; and enough differences (like all those poisonous things), to keep you on your toes. I love the big cloud-fileld skies and all those incredibly funny linguistic quirks the Aussies have too. Anyway… that’s all I had to say. Just a little Aussie reverie.

When a Bridge Becomes Art

Melbourne 2008 Ajr

There are few things I like better than brainstorming and creative collaborations - for myself and in others – so I was always going to warm to Melbourne’s Webb Bridge. This collaboration between Melbourne-based architects, Denton Corker Marshall and senior Australian artist, Robert Owen crosses the Yarra River, providing pedestrians and cyclists with an imaginative crossing from Docklands to South Yarra. It’s sinuous, snaking form can be read in any number of ways – as a cocoon, a web (no pun intended), a fishnet stocking – although sculptor Robert Owen in fact, referenced a koori – a traditional Aboriginal eel trap – for his inspiration. On both my previous visits to Melbourne I have spent a great deal of time wandering around Docklands photographing its prolific public art and architecture and Webb Bridge has given rise to more photographs that I care to own up to. I love it – by day and by night. These photographs are less impressive because of the inclement, grey, overcast conditions on the day, but by night it comes alive. The Arup engineering team – in addition to creating the 6-metre high steel loops of the bridge’s spine – also developed a lighting system that highlight’s its ‘rib-cage’ and it night it almost takes on a caterpillar-like character. Not everyone likes the bridge but there’s nothing new about new art and architecture creating a controversy. Wherever there are people there will be disagreement about the merits of creative projects of any kind. I’m just glad this one actually became a reality. You can see photographs of the complete bridge on the Denton Corker Marshall website – www.dentoncorkermarshall.com

I of course, can’t help myself – I have to have my own creative play, patching different photographs of the bridge together in crazy panoramas that present a whole new range of (im)possibilities.

Barry's Provocative Unpublished Minutes - 61

"A Monumental Blunder" 2009 Here's another witty observation from one of New Zealand's leading printmakers. To see others in this fantastic series, click on Cleavin in the label line below this post.

An Orchard Autumn

Central Otago. May 2009. Ajr

I am continually drawn to soldier-like rows of trees. All the better if they are bare of leaves and moulting the last of their fruit. Vineyards, orchards, shelter belts - I love them all and have been known to spend hours wandering about taking photographs. There's an untidy precision about a scene like this that I just cannot drive by.

Self-Portrait 9 - In The Square

Cathedral Square

Christchurch

July 2009 Ajr

I went to photograph the market but was side-tracked by my own sudden growth spurt.

Kayaking in Paradise

Image courtesy Abel Tasman Wilsons Experiences The Abel Tasman near Nelson on New Zealand's South Island may be our smallest national park but I think it's the most beautiful. And if you're a kayaker, I can think of no better place to start paddling. The waters around the national park coastline are crystal clear - a cliche I know but in this case it's true. There are numerous ways to explore Abel Tasman National Park and one of the best is to do a combined guided walk and kayak adventure. That way you get the best of land and sea with an experienced from the Abel Tasman Wilsons Experiences team, who have been opertaing in the area for over thirty years. www.abeltasman.co.nz

Shoe Shuffle

Blue Satin Heels

In multiples Nudging Red