Blender Gallery is pleased to present seven photographers from New Zealand photographic group Exposed Photography.
Ranging in experience from 4 to 20 years, these photographers have been bought together by Wellington based, photographic agent, Lisa Alway from Exposed.

Exposed was formed in late 2003 by Ms Alway as a vehicle to promote New Zealand photographers and photography’s profile both in New Zealand and overseas.

This exhibition ‘Seven Exposed ‘, aims to bring a variety of New Zealand photography to a new audience.
With shows scheduled for London later this year, this exhibition marks the Exposed Group’s first International exhibition.

The diverse bodies of work being exhibited range from a new documentary series by John Savage, who’s successful exhibition ‘Long Live The King’ was show at Blender Gallery in 2004; the fine art explorations of ‘childhood play’ by Jane Wilcox, to panoramic landscapes by Glen Howey. Mark Beehre, Liz Brooker, Jess Parker and John Williams’ work will also be on exhibition.

Mark Beehre: Men Together – Men Alone

‘Men Together’ is a series of portraits of gay couples; ‘Men Alone’ depicts those who, whether by choice or by circumstance, do not have a committed partner – regardless of sexual orientation. Both of these projects are significant in terms of New Zealand’s social history. The fact that New Zealanders are approaching the 20th anniversary of Homosexual Law Reform makes this a timely moment to be documenting the lives of gay men. On the other hand, in a culture which places great emphasis on relationship as an index of social success, and where the romantic dream is a prominent part of contemporary mythology, single men represent a hidden group whose stories are nonetheless valid and worthy of being told.

Liz Brooker : Festivals, Fairs and Fetes of New Zealand

Since humans have lived in communities they have come together to trade, celebrate births, deaths, marriages, harvest festivals, religious festivals and lunar festivals. These events form the bases of community sprit, but in today’s society of global travel, information, and exchange, does that tradition of community sprit still prevail? During this on going project Brooker has been exploring events both large and small… whether it was the Camberley Childcare Centre Street Party, the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Premiere, the Ongaonga sports day to the Newtown Gay and Lesbian Fair … communities coming together to celebrate, fund raise or socialize echoing the traditions of the past.

Glen Howey: Behind The Camera

Landscape photography is a form of escapism. Having spent ten years capturing thousands of documentary images ranging from a drunken Cambodian policeman opening fire, through to the everyday struggle of landmine victims, Howey finds that a return to the constantly changing landscape provides a serene quality two steps removed from the chaos. One of his latest journeys started after Howey had travelled around the world and returned to New Zealand with fresh eyes and a desire to see his own home. “I moved into my VW Kombi and it led me to some beautiful and truly dramatic parts of this diverse country. Being able to park-up surrounded by the landscape I was photographing, gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of it. I then could personalise what I saw and translate that onto film.”

Jessica Parker: Imperfect Visions of a Quiet Land

“I believe that what we openly observe in our environment has a tangible and intangible impact, which creates not only our visual history but also part of our emotional history. So much of what we see has a deeper resonance within our being - if we let it.” When photographing the landscape, Parker uses a Diana camera, which is a tool that captures this visual memory in an image of an imperfect reality. This reality is similar to the fleeting dreamlike emotional impressions we retain. The Diana was mass produced as a toy for children in the 1960s and 70s. Perhaps this explains the nostalgic feel of her images – or perhaps it is simply somewhere you’ve been before or something you’ve seen hundreds of times over.

John Savage: Land of the Free

This is the latest series by documentary photographer John Savage. After his ongoing success from his previous series documenting Elvis worship, Savage documents his personal experience of the United States. “America is a land of contrasts. A land of contradictions. Free but fearful… large but inward looking… modern but antiquated… These images represent the beginning of a long-term project which charts my personal experience of the United States.”

Jane Wilcox: Childhood Landscapes

‘When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, when I became a man, I put away childish things.’ - First letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 13 verse 11 Do we? Through her series “Childhood Landscapes”, Wilcox explores the notion that as adults when we have own children we revisit much of our childhood. Our childhood shapes the adult whether; it was good, bad or indifferent. The good experiences, we try to recreate for own children, the bad we try and shield them from, we also want to recreate new experiences, new memories in the hope they might remember them and carry them onto adulthood.

John Williams: Domestic Bliss

One persons domestic bliss, may well be another persons suburban nightmare. John Williams has been involved in photography for a number of years and his main area of interest is documentary. This is Williams first sojourn into exhibited colour. A black and white practitioner for years, Williams ‘exploits’ those features of the house many choose to ignore. In a style he describes as “Welsh minimalism”, Williams brings a small dose of cynicism to those “beige wonderlands” many of us call home.