Rain Forest

Sue Guest

Photospace Gallery
1st floor, 37 Courtenay Place, Wellington

3 - 26 February 2022

Opening Thursday, 3 February, 5pm - 7pm

I keep revisiting the native forest remaining in Wellington’s western suburbs looking for the scenes that seem to be characteristic of the New Zealand bush and continuing to notice new details.
Our bush depends for its lushness on rainfall evenly spread throughout the year. The capital has about 124 rainfall days a year. The rain provides a magical dimension to the scene and these photographs were all taken on wet days.
Landscape photography was once considered non-destructive to the environment – “take nothing but photos leave nothing but footprints”. But we have subsequently had the “Instagram effect” of people being keen to prove they have been to these places and in the process causing destruction to scenic spots while trying to capture the iconic photograph.
We see images online of people trampling wildflowers or overcrowding the spot that destroys the magic they seek to capture. The question for one who cares about the environment is should I still be taking photos at all? Are we leading to its destruction by photographing it? I try not to.
I do want to be able to capture not the great scenic spots of New Zealand but the extraordinary complexity of nature by photographing the ordinary. These are along the bush tracks - the spots you may have walked by taking the dog out for a walk. But they are worthy of a second look.
This is the view of a photographer, not a scientist. I hope that by looking in detail at these scenes you may see the need to support and care for wild spaces.
- Sue Guest, 2021

Sue Guest's exhibition Rain Forest will share the gallery with new exhibitor Rebecca Macfie's Night Shadows - a collection of photograms.

Note: we'll be closed on Monday 7th Feb. for Waitangi Day.

When you come to the opening, please have your Vaccine Pass ready to show. Sorry, no Vaccine Pass, no entry to the opening.

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