Fixated on Photography

Fixated on Photography

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Ben Cauchi
The Lowest Note (2007)

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Bernard Woods Studios
Farmers Co-Op Ltd, Devon Street, New Plymouth (1964-1965)

Ever wondered how early photography developed into the prolific and much loved medium it is today? Here’s your chance to find out!

Puke Ariki’s upcoming exhibition Fixated: Photography Through History explores the development of photography and photographic processes from 1839 to the present.

When: 1 August – 26 October 2009
How much: FREE
Where: Puke Ariki, 1 Ariki Street, New Plymouth

Fixated showcases fantastic examples of early photographic processes from Puke Ariki’s collection, along with contemporary examples of Victorian photographic techniques. Included in the exhibition are two remarkable original photolithographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, the inventor of the positive/negative process, generously loaned to Puke Ariki by Auckland War Memorial Museum. New work by sculptor Elizabeth Thomson highlights photography’s influence on other forms of art.

Of the exhibition’s title, curator Ruth Harvey says: “I chose the word ‘fixated’ because of the Taranaki community’s huge interest in photography – people are ‘fixated’ with it. The community has had a long history with the medium – Taranaki subjects feature in some of the earliest photography known in New Zealand.

“But the word ‘fix’ also has a lot of meaning in terms of photography – photographs are light rays fixed to a surface, and photography was born from the desire of artists and scientists to fix the image from a camera obscura.”

Fixated examines the unique characteristics of a range of photographic processes, including daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, opaltypes, albumen prints, printing-out paper prints, colour and digital photography.

“This exhibition allows people to see these treasures as well as learn about the processes that have helped revolutionise our pictorial history,” says Ms Harvey.

Fixated also features a number of images from the Woods portion of the Swainson-Woods Collection, a unique and historically significant collection of approximately 255,000 negatives. Dating from 1923-1997, the Swainson-Woods Collection captures a huge slice of our social history. This studio-based collection was gifted to Puke Ariki in 2005 and has been the subject of a massive restoration project – the largest of its kind in New Zealand.

“Conservation of the Woods portion of the Swainson/Woods Collection, which numbers approximately 155,000 negatives, started in 2008 with assistance from a Lottery Environment and Heritage grant. The grant covers the first year of the two-year project,”says Ms Harvey.

“However, funding for the second year of the project has not yet been secured, placing the project at risk.

“Approximately 80,000 negatives are in danger of being lost forever. The collection represents a priceless piece of Taranaki’s history and it is essential it is preserved for the community to enjoy in the future.”

Fixated: Photography Through History is proudly supported by the Taranaki Daily News.

ENDS

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