Richard Wotton’s photographs of Palmerston North on display at Te Manawa

Richard Wotton readies his camera in Moments Later, a documentary by Kevin Double.

A new exhibition at Te Manawa is about interesting places that are easily missed.

Overlooked Ordinary, by photographer Richard Wotton, calls attention to these places. Palmerston North and the surrounding regions are filled with them.

They might be off the beaten track, or on a side street. Or we might travel past them every day, their very familiarity causing them to slip beneath our notice. Photos of clubrooms, churches and iconic architectural styles evoke that distinctively Kiwi 20th-century flavour.

Some of these locations no longer exist; images of them are both a historical record and a fulcrum of nostalgia.

Wotton took these photos as early as 1978 and as recently as 2022. They’re a selection from a larger body of his work in the Te Manawa collection. Each image was chosen for its unique aesthetic, Wotton’s use of monochrome casting his subjects literally in a new light.

His portraits of buildings use the sky to create a tremendous sense of space, creating a small-town atmosphere no matter where he’s shooting. A place in Palmerston North feels like it could be in Halcombe, Marton or Turakina.

“When I approach these buildings, I usually don’t put a great deal of thought into positioning the camera,” Wotton says in the short documentary Moments Later by Kevin Double. “It happens subconsciously.”

This film is playing in the gallery. It follows Wotton around his hometown of Whanganui as he chooses subjects and discusses his practice.

Overlooked Ordinary is open in the art gallery until August 13. Free entry.

Don’t miss the Te Manawa Science Night on July 7 from 6pm-9pm. Join Dr Rafea Naffa, the Fonterra science team and our science educators for a winter evening of stars, skeletons, fluorescent worms and more. Tickets are $5 (under-2s free), available on the night.