New Zealand Visual Artist Based in Christchurch New Zealand.

Birdlings Flats with Zuzka.

It has been a while since I’ve shot some portraits. I feel super rusty, but after meeting Zuzka at last weeks Christchurch Photography Society meetup we knew we had to go drink coffee and shoot. We decided on Birdlings Flats, about 45 mins drive from the City, and it did not disappoint. The whole area looks like a scene from Jurassic Park, with the whole beach area made up of smooth pebbles, and waves ferociously slamming onto the beach, it’s quite a surreal place.

Visiting the Little River Cafe and the art gallery next to it on the way home was a bonus, and we pretty much had it to ourselves. At the Riverside Gallery an artist called Brent Forbes was exhibiting, and his work is stunning. Go check it out.

In other news i’ve got a colour negative developing kit on the way, and randomly, I got an email from the Anuj, the founder of at Feedspot, with news that this blog has been added to their top 100 photographers list. Anyway, here are a few images.

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Expired Kodacolor Gold 400 from 1988.

I’m not a massive 35mm shooter. I don’t like handling the tiny negatives when developing or scanning, or even archiving them. I’ve got a fantastic 35mm camera though, a Minolta x700 and it does not get used that much at all. Last week I went to my first Christchurch Photography Society’s meeting and they were having a swap meet of gear. I grabbed a substantial stash of expired 35mm films. It was a bargain. I’m going to work through the film swag and see what results I get. I’ve got plans to start developing my own colour negatives too, (finally!) but that will happen once I get a decent cash injection for the additional materials outside of my black and white processing kit.

Meanwhile, here is the first roll, and it’s Kodak Kodacolor Gold 400, and expired in 1988. The box states it was the official film of the 1988 Olympics, which is kooky. Apparently when you shoot expired film one must meter the ISO in camera by a stop per decade, so for this roll rated at 400 I dropped it to 100. It did the trick and here are the results. I love the chunky grain, it looks so painterly. I love the cyan/ magenta tone shifts, and also the soft contrast plus occasional light leaks. Everything was shot at f1.7 that adds to the dreamy feeling.

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Beach Combing for Plastics.

An assignment (that will develop into an on going project) I’m in the midst of is focussed on plastic rubbish found on Christchurch beaches. The goal is to raise awareness of how plastics impact our environment and I’ve got plans for a zine, large prints, and maybe some sculptural work too. If times allows.

First impressions of waste on Christchurch beaches is that there is not much trash at all. I’ve spent a fair amount of time beach combing for plastics at Sumner Beach, Taylors Mistake, and Boulder Bay and found only a few items. My first impressions after shooting them as found amongst the sands and rocks, is that instead of being repelled by their ugliness, I’m actually finding the results disturbingly beautiful.

Here are a few from the collection so far, and the unique aesthetic of the Yashica635 could be seen as an asset or a fault with this series, as i’m shooting right upto its minimal focal range. There are strange sharp and soft patches throughout the frame, but personally i think it adds to why I find the series so compelling… the whole subject matter looks so dreamy.

I’m in the process of developing and scanning more of these images, and will add to this post as I go along. I may swap out images too as I’m going to shoot them again… and again… as you do. Ha!

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Selwyn.

Selwyn is a super talented and intensely passionate fellow. Majoring in Film making at Ilam, he’s also an actor, advocate of Mens mental health and numerous other worthwhile endeavours. You guessed it, we met at Ilam back in 2018, and Selywn just turned 21 and reached out to find out how much I charge for portraits on film. He wanted a set of images that would capture this very special milestone in his life, and also a printed gift to his Mother.

We met at Waikuku Beach, that’s about 30 mins outside of Christchurch and what a spectacular place to take it all in! There is sandy beach as far as the eye can see as well as forest, sand dunes and marshland full of bird life. We were also blessed with a spectacular sunset that seemed to radiate 360 degrees.

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Boulder Bay.

Boulder Bay in Christchurch is a real hidden gem. Similar to Taylors Mistake, this small bay, or beach if you will, is resident to multiple baches. These kooky little houses seem to all be in good order though compared to Taylors, and just blend so well into the beach completely covered in rocks.

Boulder Bay during the Autumn and Winter months is blessed with beautiful golden lit sunsets that hug the horizon to the very last second. When you walk the Godley Head track too, Boulder Bay is a perfect way to end it and after the sunsets, it’s just a little walk up the hill back to the carpark. I’m always alone it seems when i visit, which adds a real feeling of remoteness.

Similar to Taylors Mistake, I’ve started to document the forms, buildings and vibe of this wee bay. What I’d love to do over the warmer months when residents are more inclined to be staying in the baches is try and capture their portraits too, and add to this series.

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Taylors Mistake.

It’s super strange how one can visit a location many many times and not quite see it. I’ve visited Taylors Mistake beach heaps of times, at all times of the year, and in particular the more rocky side of the bay, but I’ve mostly with a digital camera in hand. I’ve captured people and place there and never quite been happy with the results because digital photography seems to insist that my work be quicker, and a more instant process, where I see experience environments differently. This pace is perfect for commercial work, but for the stuff I like to capture in my personal work, no so much. The images to date have not seemed to actually capture the feeling I have when at Taylors Mistake beach, with the organic colours, the remoteness, the obscurity. I’m really happy kind of meditating with the light along the coast at the moment, and at Taylors it really seemed to work for me this visit.

I’m really starting to enjoy documenting spaces, buildings, forms along the Godley Coast this year and I’m appreciative of how capturing time and place is important in this quickly changing world more than ever. In Taylors (like Boulder Bay) there are multiple baches at beach level, that are mostly vacant and derelict post-earthquakes.

It’s quite an eerie feeling when you are alone. Images were shot with Fujifilm 400H and my stocks are severely low. I’ve got two rolls left and will be keeping it for the remainder of the shoots that I’ve got planted in this region. Once those rolls are gone, I guess that will be it for that stock, seeing as it is now discontinued.

I met a guy, Shaun who was diving for muscles and as we walked along the small sandy beach, I plucked up the courage and asked to capture his portrait. The result is not perfect I know, and in reflection I should have asked him to hold his diving goggles and snorkel for more context, but that beautiful larger format look really pops. It was shot at f3.5 on the Yashica635 and has such an interesting character at this aperture. It’s so dream like.

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New Blog.

It’s May 22nd 2021 and I’m publishing a new blog here at forever1995.com. I should be doing course work heading into the last half of my final year of my degree (my 2nd degree), majoring in photography at ARA here in Christchurch, but instead I’m investing brain space to this blog. I’m taking my procrastination up a level. Next I’m gonna hoover the whole house and arrange my record collection into alphabetical order. Haha. I used to be a huge blogger in the 2000’s before Facecrack et al took grip of peoples personal little corners of the web. They were good times. I’ve not been a Facecrack user for maybe 5 years now so can’t just dump images into that beast and see what happens. That process never felt right to me anyhow.

If I was to be honest though, most of my past ramblings on blogs and Facecrack have been about mountain biking, long distance trail running, and multiple other privileged endeavours which I felt warranted documenting every part of them and sharing it.

In some way, the online content I cherish and wish to share now feels for the first time, of any value, well to me anyway. The main goal of this new blog is to keep a record of process, share the rolls I shoot, with the good stuff and the not so good, that don’t make it to my portfolios. Rather than loose them into the folders of a hard drive, I thought I’d at least share them for people to see.

I’d also like to start sharing more behind the scenes content such as setups, process and the locations and people who are part of the shoot. I used to write extensive content for D-Photo magazine for many years, where I discovered I love to ramble on about photography, and I’m simply a fan of sharing my thoughts. That seems like such a long time ago now.

Anyway, I’m in the middle of some photographic assignments from school, and personal work that is focussed around the ocean, beaches and beautiful land here in Christchurch. I won’t go into a lot of detail about the assignments, but I’m really pumped about the direction they are heading. Spending so much time walking around the hills and beaches here is also a great way to immerse myself into the image making process. FYI the ‘fluro’ looking images below are part of a new series called Godley at Night, with a fascinating process to achieve the results you see. I’ll probably do a post just on that project soon.

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Sam.

Another set from 2017ish on Ilford XP2. Sam was new to New Zealand from the UK, and on the books at Portfolio Models. His Tatts were fascinating, and at that point I only had one or two on my arms, so totally into his body artwork. His wardrobe was so 1990’s. The bucket hat though! I confess, I had one the same style of hat in camo, with an acid house smiley face in yellow, sewn onto the front during my 90’s rave days.

After shooting at some interesting spots in and around the Botanical Gardens, we then headed to the Art Gallery where we captured the topless images. This set were captured on my Minolta x700 with a stunning 50mm lens. This camera is the only 35mm one I own, and it’s always set to automatic. A really fascinating camera that meters light like I’m shooting it manually. I should really use it more.

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Charlotte.

This set must have been shot in 2017. I’d just shifted to Christchurch from Auckland and bumming around attempting to pick up some commercial work. There is a really cool spot in Merivale Highstreet that made for a great wee shoot with Charlotte from Portfolio Models.

Images were captured on my Yashica635 and Olympus Mju (that I subsequently sold). What was even cooler than the location was walking over the road to Photo and Video and getting the film developed in an hour. Old school vibes all round. The black and white 120 was shot on Ilford XP2 and developed at home in monochrome chemistry vs C41, hence the mottled skin. I’ve not made that mistake again since.

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Jibryl.

A fine Autumn evening I met with Jibryl from Portfolio Models, and we captured the last light. He was running late so we really did have to shoot quickly, and after a few rolls we settled on this set of images. The moon was so bright it could be featured in a few portraits, as we dodged golf balls on the Hagley Park golf course.

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Lara.

This blog is nice and fresh as from May 2021. The images I’m sharing maybe not so much. Along with the new blog, I revamped the complete website too. It now showcases the better images I’ve made (IMHO) in the past, which means a heap of images kind of get lost into the back end of the site. These images are of Lara who was a total muse while I was studying at Ilam School of Fine Arts from 2018 – 2019 on 120 and 35mm.

As well as appearing extensively in my portrait work, Lara also helped me shoot a very dark video for a project called signified too.

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Brie.

Brie and I met at Ilam in 2018, and is not just a ridiculously nice person, but also a talented artist. We hung out at the Botanical Gardens back then, here in Christchurch one Autumn afternoon and shot a roll or two of Portraits on the Yashica635 and Portra/ and Tri-X.

We’ve worked together on multiple other digital focussed projects since, and have a filmy shoot planned this month actually, where I’ll be documenting her process in her home studio.

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A Mild Obsession With Artist Rupert Travis.

Rupert Travis and I met on day one at Art school in Ilam. We were both jacked on coffee, rambling, and trying to look clever. Instantly we knew we would become friends. I love this guy a lot. Sure, he has an ego, but maybe rightly so, as his process and direction of image making is fascinating. We’ve hung out, partied, and collaborated many times since. I doubt this friendship and respect for each other will ever tire, and I’m stoked to say that going to Ilam was worth it, just to cross paths with Rupert.

This collection of images span from 2018 to date. The interview was done last year in the 2nd year of ARA studies where half of the teachers hated the monochrome edit, while the others loved it. I guess that’s like Rupert too. He divide opinions.

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Lucy.

Lucy and I met on the massage table one day. Yeah, she is the best masseur I’ve ever met. We also thought it would be cool to shoot some frames together over the past few years too. Here is a selection captured at Woodend and Sumner beach here in Christchurch. I think i’m long overdue for both a massage and another shoot!

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Natasha.

Natasha was in her final year at Ilam School of Fine Arts when I was in the 2nd year. We often bumped into each other in the developing room where I was rocking 120, while Natasha 4×5. We managed to organise a shoot about a year later I think, and she was very late. There was a faulty shower incident apparently, a spray tan malfunction and she was locked out of the house too. Amazing we actually made this happen looking back!

We met out at Rapaki beach where we shot into the fading light, and I lit the last frames with my iPhone with the Yashica635 on a tripod. From memory we shot on the now rare as hens teeth Fuji400H, and my faithful, Ilford HP5.

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Mikaela.

I met Mikaela on Instagram if I remember correctly, where she was looking for photographers to work with on her portfolio as a budding model. Anyway, Mikaela loves to dance so we met at her studio for a roll, and then sometime later in and around the retro looking Ilam School of Fine Arts that is stuck back in the 1970’s. Oh and the decor is too. Ha! We captured some real bangers actually, and it’s definitely a lot of fun documenting other peoples talents and passions.

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Holly.

Holly and I met at Art School, and we captured these sets at her student flat. We also thought it would be a great idea to shoot some frames together at the Porthills overlooking Pegasus Bay, and the results as a set in my opinion are quite beautiful!

All of them were captured on my faithful Yashica635 aside from the bean bag shot that was taken on a Holga pinhole camera, which was a lot of fun to setup on an overarching tripod.

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Jasmine.

Jasmine from Portfolio Models. We rocked the Yashica635 with Portra on the streets of Christchurch as well as Godley Head. Jasmine had an amazing energy that you just know will yield great things for her. I’d love to work with her again, and the double exposure made to an exhibition in a series called Earth Sea Sky.

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Renaye.

Renaye is from Portfolio Models and one afternoon we walked around the back streets off Merivale Highstreet after being moved on from the Mall by security as we looked like we were ‘pros’. The light was fantastic outside anyway, and I even surprised myself finding some great spots to capture Renaye hanging about in the streets. Sometimes good locations are literally right in-front of my nose.

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Neko.

Neko was from Portfolio Models and had a good look aye! We mostly shot behind the Christchurch Art Gallery where even trash cans looked good on the beautiful Yashica635 with the characteristic muted tones of Fuji400H (RIP).

I really love the image of Neko with Ronnie van Houts ‘Quasi’ (hand) artwork in the background on top of the Art Gallery. I don’t think that sculpture is there anymore to be honest, and this image is testimony to how photography is still an important method to document a place in time. It was captured on XP2 from memory.

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