Photo diary of Red Bus adventure goes on show

10 August 2006

Photo diary of Red Bus adventure goes on show

Candid photographs documenting the travels of Canterbury University Masters student Tim Veling on Christchurch's red buses will be exhibited at Christchurch's CoCA Gallery as part of the University's inaugural arts festival, Platform (10-26 August).

Tim, a Master of Fine Arts (Photography) student, spent two years of a three year project riding the city's red buses with his Leica camera, exploring the city and photographing sights and scenes that caught his interest.

His journey around his home town, part of his Masters project, aroused nationwide media interest earlier this year. He was interviewed on TV1's Breakfast show and featured in local newspapers.

"It's been a whirlwind really. It was strange seeing myself on TV and in the newspapers. I've had people stopping me in the street asking me about my project and saying I must have learned a lot. It's just been amazing," said Tim.

His journey became an "OE" of sorts, taking the 25-year old to parts of the city he had never been to before. He took photos, chatted to people and listened to the conversations going on around him, the experience giving Tim new insights into the city in which he lives and into his own life.

"It really solidified in my heart where my home is and what that abstract idea of 'home' means to me," he said.

Forty-nine of Tim's photographs will feature in the Red Bus Diary exhibition, which is also part of the A Place in Time project, a University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts multi-media project that documents the 21st century.

A book containing Tim's thoughts and images will be published in time for the exhibition and a number of his photos will feature on the back of some of the city's buses thanks to Red Bus Ltd's sponsorship of the Platform festival.

School groups, armed with cameras and bus day passes, will also be able to recreate Tim's experiences through an educational programme being run as part of the exhibition.

"I'm really looking forward to the whole experience really, just to see how people react and respond to my photos and what I've written."

The Red Bus Diary exhibition will run at the CoCA Gallery, 66 Gloucester St, Christchurch, from 15 August to 3 September. Entry is free. The gallery is open Tuesday to Friday, 10am-5pm, and Saturday and Sunday, 12noon-4pm.

ENDS

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