Artists create truly personal work
Five leading local fashion photographers are combining their talents for a good cause - and you can help simply by buying a gorgeous piece of art.
The Brief is a charity exhibition featuring the works of photographers Jackie Miering, Russ Flatt, Steve Tilley, David Shields and Carolyn Haslett.
Each photographer has contributed several pieces that showcase their creative inspiration, whether that be Flatt's haunting girl with a moko, a symbol of strength, Shields' simple beauty of people meeting nature or Miering's collaboration with her architect sister.
Haslett's photographs act as an ode to the beauty of imperfection, capturing simple, lovely moments. Tilley's prints of vintage toys from the early 1980s reflect the fantasy and joy of childhood memories - he has printed them in large format to "mimic childhood where everything seems larger than life, and our imaginations are inflated". It means you can see every mark, dent and scratch, a representation of the love given to each toy.
All of these standout pieces - of which only five copies of each will be made - will be auctioned with the profits going to the CanTeen charity, supporting young people living with cancer.
The first image will sell for around $800, the second for $1200 and so on. But for those who can't afford to buy an image, there will be a chance to get your hands on one with $20 raffle tickets being sold during the week-long exhibition and online - a winner will be drawn after a week and will get to select an image from the exhibition at any size up to A0.
Melissa Gardi wanted to give something back by creating something - and to provide a forum for creative people to express themselves.
"I believe photographers have the power to create action by their gifts and skills of making images. However, many who apply their talents and skills to the profession of photography are constantly working to others' agendas, usually to promote brands. They don't usually make time for themselves to create truly personal work, and a major reason they got into photography - to have a creative outlet - becomes a low priority," says Gardi, who has been involved in the wider photographic community for more than 15 years and edits New Zealand Weddings.
The name of the exhibition, The Brief, is a reference to the idea of working to a brief - something photographers often have to do which can sometimes restrict their creative freedom.
Gardi decided to give the photographers no brief at all, other than to select something personal they were proud of. The cause was especially relevant to the photographers involved, with four of the five having had immediate family members suffering from cancer.
"I decided to create a vehicle for working photographers to present imagery: a concept they initiate, and photographs that mean something to them; feel personal to them," explains Gardi. "It would give photographers a reason to drive a body of work - no 'briefs', no edits made by anyone other than themselves. And for their work to benefit a charity."
The photographers involved are a who's who of the local fashion publishing world - collectively their work has appeared everywhere from French Vogue to Dazed & Confused to i-D to Elle. Gardi says she approached those who were prominent and actively working in the industry but had not had books published, did not regularly showcase their personal work and were not represented by private galleries.
EXHIBITION
What: The Brief: Photography by Carolyn Haslett, David Shields, Jackie Miering, Russ Flatt, Stephen Tilley
Where and when: Deus ex Machina, 90 Wellesley St, to May 9; Matakana Gallery and Design, June 5-19
Online: www.the-brief.com
