Auckland Festival of Photography, 1–24th June

The Auckland Festival of Photography kicks off in Auckland at the start of June. This is a city-wide contemporary art and cultural event taking place within Auckland’s major galleries, project spaces, non-gallery venues and public sites. The programme includes a mix of emerging and established artists and comprises existing works and the creation of new work. The annual Festival is produced by the Auckland Festival of Photography Trust.
Full details about what’s on offer can be found at: www.photographyfestival.org.nz
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Some selected exhibitions from the festival are:
Flashback: Fashion Photography in New Zealand, 1930–2015
Gus Fisher Gallery, 2–30 June
Each time we get dressed we are projecting an image of ourselves. Creating a persona is quintessentially what great fashion photography does; presenting a desirable and aspirational image that simultaneously convincing its audience of its accessibility. While international magazines like Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar must cater to a very diverse range of consumers, local magazines target local audiences and offer the opportunity to cultivate a unique local style. Flash Back is an exhibition of key fashion photographers who have contributed to the development and articulation of our unique New Zealand identity.
Ata Te Tangata
Studio One Toi Tu, 25 May–15 June
Commissioned by the Auckland Festival of Photography as part of the 2016 Pingyao International Photography Festival, Ata Te Tangata is a survey show focusing on current practice by photographers of Maori and Pacific descent from Aotearoa NZ. The people and landscape of the moana have been viewed and constructed by the lens of the West since first contact; photography played a huge part in contributing to the visual mythology that defined the Pacific body, the land and ocean. Ata Te Tangata redefines the gaze; the person behind the lens is genealogically and geographically a part of the community they are portraying allowing for more nuanced representations, reflecting the world around them. Their images tell a multitude of stories, bringing to light the people and landscapes of a contemporary Polynesian experience unique to Aotearoa NZ.
newphotomedia
6–19th June, Demo, 21 Shaddock St Eden Tce (check site for opening hours)
In newphotomedia Tangent Photo Collective has assembled a group of established and emerging lens-based artists and presents their responses to our globally connected and fragile world. We are living in a time of great shifts and schisms. Artists are challenged to imagine ways of being in these apparently uncharted territories of cultural and environmental pressures. newphotomediaproposes works in still and moving image, sound and installation as cartographic and navigational tools. Artists represented in the exhibition include Hye Rim Lee, David Cowlard, Anita Totha, Becky Nunes, Rainer Weston & Emil McAvoy.
Real Pictures: Imaging XX
Gus Fisher Gallery, 2–30 June
Independent Auckland gallery and colour laboratory Real Pictures was a seminal space for New Zealand’s photographic community. From 1979–1990 it exhibited leading photographers, provided support for fledgling practitioners, and was a community space for those dedicated to photographic art. For those represented in Imaging XX, the gallery played a transformative role in their practice. Imaging XX showcases historic work by women photographers affiliated with Real Pictures: Sue Gee, Jenny Tomlin, Megan Jenkinson, Marie Shannon, and Deborah Smith. The exhibition explores the diversity and dynamism that emerged during this time period.
Find out more about the other exhibitions on offer by clicking here, as well as the city-wide range of Satellite shows.