Jamie Harkins
ABOVE: Jamie creating his work on Mount Maunganui Beach, Tauranga THREE DIMENSIONAL PERSPECTIVE Always wanting to be an artist, right from…
Ninette Kruger
PROCESS AND PURPOSE
Born in South Africa, Ninette Kruger has always enjoyed being creative and explored different mediums until she discovered pewter embossing in 2004.
She taught herself the basics from an instructional book, and later attended a more advanced techniques workshop at a pewter studio in Johannesburg. Since then , she has been focused on refining her technique and thoroughly enjoying metal embossing as a hobby. “I started out with a career in the food and hotel industry, which I absolutely loved, and completed my MBA in 2006. I quickly realised the corporate world was not for me, and set out to carve out a creative career for myself. I immigrated to New Zealand with my family in 2016 and during lockdown 2020, I attended an online artist masterclass that changed my world.”
Marina de Wit
By dictionary definition, fulfillment is described as ‘the act or state of fulfilling: to witness the fulfillment of a dream; to achieve one’s hopes.’ For Marina de Wit, this is found through the lens of a camera. This however wasn’t always the case.
“I knew I had something to share, that I was meant to do something with my life that had meaning and that could potentially impact others in a positive way. I was at a pretty low point in my life. Photography and the creative aspect thereof changed my life and continues to do that everyday. “I discovered that I loved being outside taking snapshots with my phone; this led to me purchasing my first DSLR camera in 2015.” Knowing your way around the complexities of a camera is one thing, but to get what you see through the lens to come to life in post-production is another thing altogether. To see an image is just the beginning, to see what it could become, that you can turn it into something special by the end of the process, is a gift not many have. Marina however, has a knack of doing this. “I am not a technical photographer at all but mostly shoot from my heart and current mood.” This is something she encourages for any up and coming photographers. “Take it slow and breathe, it’s ok to be vulnerable, to be scared. Do it anyway. I firmly believe that life starts at the other side of fear.” As far as content for her photography goes, Marina is focusing on floral work, with the clear heart-felt shooting paying dividends. Natural light and colour are the things she aims for most.
See Marina's work here: Marina de Wit
Robert van der Touw
THE PASSION IN PATTERN
THE PASSION IN PATTERNRobert van der Touw arrived in New Zealand in 1990 after graduating from the School of Natural medicine in Holland. He always had a strong love for the beauty of nature, even as a four year old boy when he used to wander the Dutch forest and steal flowers and plants out of people’s gardens to put in his own. The police were not amused but were very surprised at his age! “Is that Robert van der Touw” one of them laughed as he entered the room! Roger tells us more of his interest in nature and accomplishing his mission.
Shortly after my arrival here I fell in love (literally) with the native forests of New Zealand. As a practitioner of natural medicine, nature was my ‘playing ground’ and New Zealand’s pristine ancient forests could not provide for a better one. I developed a sincere desire to explore all these beautiful ‘new medicines’. As a trained classical homeopath I was lucky. Homeopathy offers effective research methods to let you explore these.
The Business of Art – John Botton
During my recent visit to Sydney I popped into one of my favourite hangouts, the Art Gallery of NSW and headed straight down to the photographic exhibitions (why do galleries always bury photography exhibits in the basement?). I was surprised to find a number of pieces by Andreas Gursky, whose name didn’t mean much to me until a few years back when one of his photographs sold for over three million dollars.
During my recent visit to Sydney I popped into one of my favourite hangouts, the Art Gallery of NSW and headed straight down to the photographic exhibitions (why do galleries always bury photography exhibits in the basement?). I was surprised to find a number of pieces by Andreas Gursky, whose name didn’t mean much to me until a few years back when one of his photographs sold for over three million dollars.While contemplating the huge print of “Chicago, Mercantile Exchange” (it was estimated to sell for over five hundred thousand Euros), I got to thinking about the first time I presented my photography to the owner of the Red Square Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa. I now cringe at the thought of how naive I was; I just arrived at the gallery without an appointment, my work was very poorly presented and was very higgledy-piggledy to say the least with no structure or cohesive theme. The gallery owner was very polite in rejecting me but it took me ages to come to terms with it. So how do you go from aspiring artist to commercial success?
Drew Hill
CONTEMPORARY VIEWPOINT
'Meat on Meat'
Using his camera to tell the stories of those who fall through the cracks, Drew Hill ventures to highlight political, social and cultural injustices and issues. He has been passionate about art from an early age and began by using painting as a medium to express his world view.
Drew loves art history and the biographies on artists - how they lived and worked. In 1999 he graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts, Canterbury and now draws inspiration from current issues, producing thought provoking images through his recently favoured medium, photography, “...because a picture tells a thousand words and it enables you to capture the perfect moment in time that will never be seen again.”
Presentation
By John Botton I’m not sure about you but I always feel a bit self-conscious when exposing myself to other people,…
Ken Clark
THE INDIVIDUAL ART OF MOVING IMAGES
Ken Clarke, an intelligently creative cinemetographer has always considered film and television an art form. Here he brings his vision to us, and considering his tremendously varied artistic background, we are privileged to include Ken in our pages, bringing all aspects of art into your home. Ken tells us his fascinating story.
I have a BFA(Hons) in Film from Canterbury University. I started it in 1980 and didn’t finish until last year. I have spent most of my life up till now working in the film and television industry; first as a make-up artist, then a stop-motion animator where I sculpted puppets and props and then in post-production and digital effects.
Confessions of a Couch Photographer
10 WAYS TO GET YOUR FOJO WORKING By John Botton As I staggered to the summit of North Ridge on my…
Before you push the button
PRINTING BETTER LANDSCAPE IMAGES
Many photographers I print for often ask for tips on how best to prepare their landscape images for printing. In reality, good prints start before you even hit the shutter button. A solid landscape capture workflow is essential but, unlike the simplicity of good old film process, digital photography comprises a myriad of interdependent systems and settings to achieve the desired output.
Let’s begin with the origination - your digital camera (this may also apply to smart phone cameras in the future), go into the menu settings for the camera and find the reference to ‘colour space’. You should have at least two options here, sRGB and Adobe RGB. Make sure you have Adobe RGB selected.