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Revealing a window on the Haka

The ‘‘beautiful and vibrant energy’’ of the Hakataramea Valley will be showcased over 10 weeks, in a rolling exhibition by an award-winning photographer and author. Yashas Srinivasa reports. Books that can add richness to our lives

Every week, a new photograph of the Hakataramea Valley captured by Chloe Lodge will be on display at the Kurow Museum and Information Centre, through to February.

‘‘I drive up the valley, and I’m taking pictures all the time and I feel not everybody has access to the beautiful valley we live in, so I just came up with this idea of creating an exhibition,’’ Lodge said. ‘‘I didn’t want to create an exhibition where it’s all the same pictures up on the wall. I wanted to bring it to the people that are passing by the community.’’

Originally from England, Lodge moved to the valley about nine months ago with her Kiwi husband James, who grew up in Featherston in Wairarapa, and children after staying in Paris, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, and the Seychelles.

After completing a Masters Degree in photo journalism and documentary photography in Paris, Lodge and her husband went on a ‘‘mission’’ to try to find a place that worked for both of them.

The family moved back to New Zealand and stayed at Puhoi, north of Auckland, for two years before moving to the South Island.

‘‘Puhoi was a stepping stone for us as we were looking for a farm. My husband is a farmer. He grew up here on a farm, and then he managed farms in his 20s.

‘‘He had a break when we were travelling the world.’’

She said the family chose the Hakataramea Valley as they ‘‘love the South Island’’.

‘‘We’re keen to build a community and build a foundation for our children, and we think its really, really important they have some roots and it’s a pretty beautiful place down here.

‘‘We’re building our home and building our farm.

‘‘I love travelling around and taking pictures. I often go to Queenstown and Wanaka and I would like to travel around more of New Zealand, particularly the South Island taking pictures.

‘‘When my kids are a little older, I think I’ll probably have the time.’’

Lodge said there was a ‘‘beautiful energy’’ in the valley.

‘‘Because it’s a working valley. There’s lots of farms and there are families going up and down to the school bus.’’

The idea for the rolling exhibition was one she thought would work well, as there would be an element of surprise as noone else knew which photograph she would share next.

Lodge said a lot of people travel through Kurow to get to the lakes for the summer, and hopefully it will work as an interest point for the community.

startLodge always wanted to be an artist.

‘‘I wanted to take pictures when I was young, but it was film, and it was analogue, it was super expensive to make mistakes in them.’’

Her love for photography returned in her late 20s by which point it was digital, ‘‘so it was much easier to progress and learn and make mistakes’’.

‘‘Photography for me is about conveying how I see the world and what I notice, and I love to tell stories.

‘‘I used to work in office-based jobs and I realised, in my early 30s, I don’t enjoy office-based work and not being out and about in nature and being physical and exploring. So photography ticks lots of those boxes.

‘‘I retrained in my early 30s and did a Master’s in photo journalism and documentary photography which sort of married beautifully with my history degree I had done in my 20s.’’

From here she began photographing families, weddings and births, she said.

Lodge self-published a book, For The Love of a Photograph, just before the pandemic hit in 2019.

‘‘I’ve worked as a family photographer for eight to nine years and when I moved to New Zealand, I decided to take a break

A passion for the new is a significant driver for architects. It follows that few architects would slavishly copy past works – as time passes, so too fashions and lifestyles change.

However, any society benefits from its architectural ‘‘library’’ of previous endeavours, adding richness to everyday life. It is appropriate to record the exceptional career of the late Geoffrey Thornton MBE (1922-2017) in producing a range of books dedicated to our built environment. While practising as an architect, Thornton was not only a prominent team member of the Historic Places Trust, he was a busy author.

He travelled widely, recording buildings that were often outside the mainstream. Areas of interest led to handsome publications on concrete buildings, industries, farm buildings, and bridges.

On a recent visit to the Church of St Anne located at Pleasant Valley, near Geraldine, a colleague wondered whether this little gem had been included in Thornton’s splendid book Worship in the Wilderness (2003) – a pictorial record of early country churches from shooting families and the hustle of client work and I always had in my mind that I wanted to write a book on photography.

‘‘There’s a lot of photography books that talk about the technical side of photography whereas I wanted to talk about the essence of photos, the story, the light, the colour and all the elements.

‘‘Once you’ve learnt how to use your camera there are so many elements that make up who you throughout New Zealand. Indeed this is the case.

The church dates from 1863, being the oldest church in South Canterbury still in use. Of wooden construction, the interior displays a collection of warm and mellow timbers, unpainted. Its tiny proportions and picturesque setting justify its protection by means of both the Timaru District Plan and Heritage New Zealand ratings.

– David McBride are as an image maker and that’s basically what my book is about.

‘‘It encourages you to tell your story.

‘‘It teaches you ways you can do that, and I also share ways I see the world and the ways I document my life hoping to inspire other people to do the same.’’

Lodge said one of the reasons she became a photographer was because of her ‘‘love affair with the physical and tangible photograph’’.

‘‘I’m always finding ways to get my work off a screen and into the real world in a physical way.’’

She was a 2019 finalist at the Documentary Family Awards, a Voice Image Collection finalist, has had her photographs exhibited at The Recontres d’Arles in France in 2011, and was a finalist in the annual summer photography festival.

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2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-04T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281784222377339

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