More Geology

Here are some rocks that are in the Southland

Museum. All of the samples have been

found in Southland.

I took this photograph a couple of years ago

when spent 4 months living in Invercargill as the William

Hodges Fellow.

Fossils

For a long time I've been curious about fossils
and as often seems to happen to me, my camera follows
my interests. It's as if my photography
is about my life, not my life about my photography.

Considering the number of times that I have
attempted photographing
fossils the pickings have been very slim.

Here I am today, working again on the subject.
Again, just not enough grunt to the photo.

It's good to keep picking up the camera though,
it's like practising scales.

The top fossil,
between 3.1 and 3.2 million
years old, was found last Saturday

in a cliff on the Taranaki coast, about an hour
south of here. I was on a geological society
field trip to the area. We studied the cliffs
over a 2 or 3 kilometre stretch. They are notable
because they illustrate much of the geological
history of this area.

This is not a fossil at all, but a scallop
that I cast in lead some years ago.

Barn

I mentioned a couple of posts back that the photo

I had taken of the Neenish Tarts was one of the most

popular that I had ever made.

Here is another one that was popular as well.

It is about 7 years old.

The barn was in a paddock somewhere to

the south of Martinborough, at the bottom

of the North Island.

I often look at barns and around here in Taranaki

there is no shortage. I almost a connoisseur of

barns. The one in the photo is one of the most

perfect that I've ever seen. It sits there with

such clarity.

Fish

Up until the last two or three years

when I took a new photo I always printed it up,

in an edition usually, and then moved on.

More recently though I've been stockpiling images,

doing no more than making draft prints

and putting them on my studio

walls for my own personal pleasure without

going any further with them. The photo above

is an example.

One reason for this situation is that

I seem to be photographing more

now than ever before. I'm not sure why but perhaps working

digitally has increased my output. Another

reason is that I now see images in colour as

well as black and white. For a long time

I worked exclusively in the latter.

This photo I made about 18 months ago.

Lately, I've been feeling that it needs printing up, quite

urgently.

Cliff

Today I am in my studio and working on

some fake cliffs that I bought at a pet store.

They are meant to be added to aquaria.

I worked on this material before, in a

post called Trunk.

I'm struggling with making this work

and will live with this image for a while.

Then I'll know whether or not to abandon

this direction or not.

I've made a black and white version to see

if that helps me to recognise anything that

may be there.

Neenish Tarts 1984

A print of this image sold at an auction last week, in

Auckland, at Art + Object.

I can still remember how, when I bought all these

tarts, and some doughnuts, and some jams rolls,

the owner of the Devonport bakery asked me

if I was having a party.

This image would be one of the most popular that

I have ever taken.

Headless Chicken

Something about the images I used in the previous

two posts brought

this 1995 photo into my thoughts.

At the time I made a few silver gelatin prints

of this image.

I think that I've got one left,

in a drawer here in my studio.

I wish that I had made more, but at the

time I was put off by the amount of 'spotting'

that each print needed. Spotting involves poring

over the print for hours with a fine paint brush and

a bottle of ink touching up imperfections, or spots.

The print is largish, I have an idea that I made the

chicken as close to life-size as possible.

Another reason that I didn't make many prints

was that I predicted that it would not be an easy photo

to sell, not very suitable for the sitting room wall.

Pumpkin Again

Following the previous post,

here is another photograph of a pumpkin.

Let me explain how this image came about.

A pumpkin had been purchased with the intention

of making soup. However, in the artist's residence where

I was staying there was a blue plinth. I like plinths.

This residence is in Invercargill, at the bottom of the

South Island of New Zealand and this was a couple of years

ago.

I had placed the grey crown pumpkin on the plinth

because I was enjoying its shape and colour.

However, I had purchased some inflatable toys, ones

that when blown up, projected spikes all over.

One of these toys, in a moment of over exuberance on my

part perhaps, had exploded, and as a result had a tear

along one side.

A couple of friends where there with me at the time,

we were enjoying ourselves. I looked up, only to see Buzz, one of the guests,

wearing the rubber balloon on his head like a helmet and looking hilarious.

As the evening progressed, I found that the helmet had been

transferred to the pumpkin and there it stayed.

Pumpkin

Although I bought this at a food shop,

I just can't bring myself to cut it up

and eat it.

It is safe in my kitchen.

Wall at Eltham.

There is a memorable wall at Eltham in South Taranaki.

It is entirely encrusted with .....well, I don't know

what to call them but here are some examples.

The collection has been on display for some time

so they are fading and some have been pillaged as well

but it is still very impressive. Eltham is a tiny town

so anybody will tell you how to find it.

Remember that if you click on the images

they will enlarge.

Graves at Midhurst

This cemetery at Midhurst in Taranaki is one that

I have discovered recently. If you are driving from

New Plymouth to Wanganui you will go through Midhurst.

I don't often photograph in cemeteries but

yesterday, with a biting south easterly and chilly rain

setting the mood, I decided to give it a try.

The Wave

Here is a photo that I took yesterday.

Living in a coastal town I have plenty

of opportunity to look at waves

but I don't often feel tempted to take

a photo.

There is a peacefulness to this

particular image that appeals

to me.

Laurence Aberhart

New Zealand photographer Laurence Aberhart

is currently working in Taranaki and I am having

the pleasure of escorting him to some of my favourite

sites in the region.

Here he is on the banks of the Waiwakaiho, one of many rivers which

runs off the mountain and down to the sea.

The camera, a Korona, is over 100 years of age.

Below is a photo that I took from the same position.

While not a keeper, it does amuse me.

What the image was that Laurence was seeking I have not

yet seen.

The Aesthetics of Dispersal 2

The aesthetics of dispersal is phrase that was coined by photography writer

Peter Ireland, to describe a common theme of mine.

It is very true that

images such as the one above

appear at regular intervals and seem to have

done so throughout most of my career.

These images contain a range of subjects,

in this case it is sheep. Yet it seems that it

is not the sheep that I am particularly

interested in but the spaces in between them

and the way that they have arranged themselves

over the hillside.

I have written about this subject in a previous post.

Pine

In New Plymouth there is a large park area

in the central city. It is made up of two

parks that abut each other. One is called

Pukekura and the other is called Brooklands.

Brooklands is well known for being the

venue of WOMAD and many other events.

However, like Pukekura, it has a number

of very mature trees. This pine is an example.

Radiata I think, there are several of them

and I often try to photograph them because

they are some of the most impressive examples

that I have ever seen.

This image doesn't really give you an idea of the scale,

however, I will continue to work on them.

Mixed Media

Here are two photos, both a couple of years

old but they have something in common.

The top one, I would like

to see made into a tapestry. I have been looking

for a suitable photo for a long time, but this

is the first that I feel is close to what I need.

It has, for example, flat planes of

colour, anything with shading is too dificult.

As a boy I used to do quite a bit of needlework.

My mother encouraged me, in our family

it wasn't seen as sissy at all.

Even in recent years I've had several

goes at taking it up. I think I give up

on that career now though. Someone

once described my stitches as tormented

and they were right. I'd rather find

a professional to do it for me now.

The photo of the stairs I would like to see

turned into a thousand piece jigsaw. Again,

it is the only photo that I have ever taken that

I've felt this way about.

Methanex at Motunui

In the previous post I referred to an

exhibition catalogue of my work

called The Left Hand Raised.

The photo above was included in that

exhibition. It was taken at the Methanex

plant at Motunui, a few kilometres north

of New Plymouth.

The plant converts natural gas into

methanol, almost all of which is exported

to countries such as China, Japan, and Korea.

Building it was one of the Think Big projects

from the time of the Muldoon government.

It remains one of the biggest engineering projects ever

undertaken in New Zealand.

When construction was finished, Methanex

gave this massive model to a museum here.

The model was not built just for fun

but as a visual guide to assist in the

construction.

While I can see what attracted me

to taking the photos below, I

am letting them pass as they

just don't quite make it.

The Left Hand Raised.

Photographs 1995-2001

A post or two ago I showed a recent

book that had been published about

my work. I also gave instructions

on how it could be purchased

from Parsons Bookshop in Auckland.

Here is another book, a small one this

time. It was the catalogue for

an exhibition that I had called

The Left Hand Raised.

The exhibition was here

in New Plymouth at the

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

The photos in the book are all in black

and white, at that stage I was only

beginning to work in colour.

There are 24 photos, one per page,

and I have written notes on each

of them.

This book too can be purchased from Parsons.

It is $13, something like that.

The photo on the cover is called Isabella

which was the name of the doll.

Watch Your Language:

Art and Photography.

This is quite a difficult post to put together because

I'm writing about something that I sense is

wrong, but am not sure if I can put it into

words.

Being a photographer I often notice the phrase: Art and Photography.

I've heard it twice in the last

week on National Radio.

There is something

about this phrase that makes me wince.

I feel that it is possible that if deconstructed it

could be found to contain some residual prejudice against

photography as a medium, after all, one does not hear:

Art and Painting.

Or: Art and Sculpture.

There is a hierarchy in the media used by artists in making

their work.

Until recently anyway, Paint has been King.

Centuries of this being so seems to have hardwired the concept into people's brains.

A medium such as Printmaking, for example, would be much further down their hierarchy. I mention this medium because I like

woodcuts and linocuts, although my impression is

that these two have almost disappeared at present.

The idea that a serious artist could choose a camera rather than

a brush, is one, which for many, seems to

take a lot of swallowing.

I don't believe in the idea that any one medium is

inherently superior to another of course. I don't think

that's how art works.

It's quite common for me to be in a conversation with someone

about my work, even a client, and they are repeatedly calling my

photographs paintings. I never say anything because I don't want to

embarrass them and also because I'm quite fascinated, but I can see the process.

They are feeling that this object in front of them is considered art so it just

can't be a photograph, it must be a painting, that's how deep the

indoctrination goes.

A Letter For Students.

Dear students (and teachers),

I have a problem at present. I'm receiving

numerous requests from students seeking

help with their photographic assignments.

In the week before last I received 5, including 2 from Australia.

The assignments are often lengthy and involve

asking me a number of complex questions

about some aspect of my work,

or life. Sometimes just reading them

feels like homework.

Anyway, I'd like

to be helpful so I'm making a suggestion

that students seek out a book that was

published last year.

Ask your teacher to buy it for the

department, perhaps.

It is full of information

of the kind that I am often asked for,
biographical for example.

It can be ordered from Parsons in Auckland

and delivered to you in 2 or 3 days.

It costs $49.95, freight will be a bit extra.

books@parsons.co.nz
+64 9 3031557

And I would suggest using a search engine

such as Google. Type in Peter Peryer and

a mountain of information comes up, images included.
Remember to refine your search by writing,
for example "Peter Peryer biography".

Also, I do have this online journal, of which this
post is number 736. In this blog I show and talk
about my work from a variety of angles.

Elephants For Sale

Today it was a pleasure to see this work by New Plymouth artist, , Elephants

For Sale, at the Govett-Brewster here in New Plymouth.

Immediately I saw the work I felt that it had some presence,

and substance, it even seemed to breathe.

There was also some sense of relief because unlike most of the

work on at the gallery there were no words. I didn't have to read my way

into it it.

My personal opinion is that Don Driver is very under appreciated in New

Zealand, I'm not sure why.

The photo below is of a Don Driver exhibition at

Tauranga Art Gallery last year. The link will take

you to a recent article in Art NZ, about his work.

Aeroplanes

While I'm on the subject of my interest in

aeroplanes, I thought that I might finish

by including this 2005 photo. I took it

at MOTAT, a museum in Auckland

that collects, amongst other things,

a variety of historic aircraft. They even

have a Lancaster bomber there, a colossus

with its four Rolls Royce Merlin engines.

This is a diorama, and the planes

are models.

Trinity 2007

In a couple of recent posts I wrote about my interest

in aeroplanes, and how I have from time to time attempted

to photograph them. This image I have on my wall.

The photo was taken from my balcony

here in New Plymouth. Perhaps I have written about it

before.

These 3 planes are privately owned Russian Yaks. Sturdy

two seater sports planes, built for people who

like to fly for fun.

Below is a photo of a Starlifter that I took at an airshow in

Wanaka. I can see why I was tempted but ultimately

the picture doesn't make the cut. If the undercarriage

had been up it would have improved the image

but still not enough I suspect.

Coleus Again

For about 6 months I would say, I have been

photographing Coleus quite intensely.

There is something in the patterns of their leaves

that calls me back to them again and again.

I am their slave.

I have even begun growing them at home, just as

my mother did. Even as a boy and a young man, I

admired them, but nothing to the degree that

I do now. I've not had any of my own

until now.

So far the photos that I have taken have

shown hints of what I am after but it's not

been enough.

But this latest attempt seems to

move closer to the core.

It registers some clicks on

the Geiger Counter for me.

I couldn't put it into words. Except that

it's possible that the picture that I am

seeking is not about coleus at all, but

something that is being carried in those

patterns. They are a kind of code that, not in any

conscious way of course, I recognise and am

driven to follow.

Remote

This is a remotely controlled vehicle. What it is called

exactly I don't know I'm sorry. Where it was purchased I don't

know either. It was in the possession of a 4 year old

at a house I visited.

She had it moving at speed

around the sitting room floor,

negotiating chair legs etc.

I used to visit toy shops quite frequently

in search of subject material

but it's been a little

while since I've visited one.

I'm obviously going to have to

do something about that!