Sanctuary

Andy Spain

Photospace Gallery
37 Courtenay Place, Te Aro, Wellington

3 - 26 February 2023

Opening Thursday 2 February, 5pm-7pm

Read Mark Amery’s review in Stuff

Sanctuary
Pandemics, mental health crisis, inequality, the rise of the far right, war on the border of Europe, it's not surprising we all need a special place to go to. I asked people where their place of Sanctuary was and arranged to photograph them in it."
- Andy Spain

During the early months of the pandemic Andy did a course to shake up his photography practice of 30 years. Forced to re-consider why he was a photographer, what began to emerge was his continual search for a place of home and the comfort that the act of photography gave him. His project, Sanctuary, was born. He set out to find other people's places of Sanctuary, allowing him a privileged access to people and places.

Over the course of the last three years, Andy has photographed Wellington residents in their place of Sanctuary, where the space around the subject is as important as the portrait itself. Over the course of the on-going project, Andy realised that his place of Sanctuary was out with his camera meeting these subjects and sharing a short moment about their life and story.

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