Photography exhibition inspires all-age writers

John Bird, head of English department at Havelock North High School, is the judge. Photo / APN

A writing competition running alongside a renowned contemporary photo exhibition at Hastings City Art Gallery sparked a great range of work in differing styles and genres from writers.

Members of the public were asked to submit a story, review, poem or article of no more than 250 words, using a photo from the Now and Then: Enduring and Developing Themes in Contemporary New Zealand Photography exhibition as their starting point.

The judge, Havelock North High School English teacher John Bird, selected Gabriel Bezus Espinosa's Three Of Them, inspired by Fiona Clark's photo taken at a gay lib dance in Auckland, as the winner of the adult section.

Fourteen-year-old Lily Cole's The Secret Behind The Sound Of The White Noise, inspired by Anne Noble's White Noise, won the teen section.

The 12 and under children's section was won by 8-year-old Rangiwhaia Te Awarangi Lewis-Campbell, whose Ki Te Taha Moana had its origins in James K Lowe's Standing Still in the Present Time.

They received the exhibition catalogue and a gift voucher worth $50 for the gallery shop for their efforts.

The gallery shared the most interesting writing examples on Facebook during the competition, rewarding those writers who had their work posted with a $10 voucher.

The exhibition, which closed on February 2, featured the work of 45 prominent and emerging photographers stretching back four decades.

It was toured by Te Manawa Museum of Art, Science and History in Palmerston North and was the first comprehensive photography exhibition of New Zealand work to be shown in any public art gallery in 37 years.