The Near Future
The Near Future
Hannah Watkinson
Self-published, 2021
69 photographs over 158 pages
225 × 160mm
Softcover - $45 NZD
Limited edition hardcover with dust jacket (signed) - $80 NZD
Read the PhotoForum review of the exhibition of the same name
Drawing on a decade of photographic work and research, 'The Near Future' considers the psychological landscape of the Buller region. Exploring the key elements that make up the socio-political climate of the Westport area – coal and gold mining, cement production, natural environment and climate change, this photographic series raises a number of fundamental questions about the future of this place.
’I began photographing the coastline of the Buller region with the knowledge that at some point, in the near future, the topography would change; rising sea levels, coastal erosion, the winding Coast Road slipping towards the deep blue. In 2015 I was unaware that, like most of the timeframes in Buller, the near future would come a lot sooner than I expected and would unfold before my eyes.
When Solid Energy went into debt crisis talks in February of 2013, Prime Minister John Key said that it was “very unlikely Solid Energy would be sold in the near future.” The country’s largest coal mining company went into voluntary administration in August 2015. In March 2018, Solid Energy was put into liquidation.
I watch the houses in Granity get evacuated in high tides. I wander around Carters Beach on tennis courts that are now part of the beachfront. I have learnt that ‘the near future’ is a concept that occupies the minds of all who live on the West Coast.’ — Hannah Watkinson
We need your help to continue providing a year-round programme of online reviews, interviews, portfolios, videos and listings that is free for everyone to access. We’d also like to dream bigger with the services we offer to photographers and the visual arts.
We’ve partnered with Press Patron to give readers the opportunity to support PhotoForum Online.
Every donation helps.