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PhotoForum Momento 1: Abby Storey

Published by PhotoForum, January 2008

The inaugural issue of the PhotoForum MoMento Members Only Magazine

Edited by John B. Turner

Design by sada

View as PDF

For some time now we have been concerned that our lack of resources have meant that we are unable to produce copies of PhotoForum more frequently or regularly; although what we do publish clearly has our member’s approval. The concept of Momento is to supplement both our print and electronic offerings and bring you, as a member, a special and more regular benefit for your support. The name Momento incorporates MOM (member’s only magazine) with momento (moment in Italian, Portuguese and Spanish).

We have achieved a great deal in numerous ways since PhotoForum was founded over 30 years ago. Through the unpaid voluntary work of numerous enthusiasts we have been able to showcase local talent, critically inform, stimulate and challenge New Zealand photographers to develop their ideas into a tangible body of work, as a portfolio, essay, exhibition, or book. Consequently, many of our past and present members are now well established (artistically, if not financially), and have inspired new generations of independent photographers to pursue their own directions.

PhotoForum has played a significant part in increasing the awareness of photography as an art and commodity, and raising the quality of exhibitions and publications. Despite, or because of this increased activity, and despite more private galleries showing photography today, there is a great need to see a wider variety of photography in print, from both up and coming young photographers, and significant historical figures, whose work has been neglected or barely celebrated.

With Momento, as a modest and relatively inexpensive short run publication, we aim to fill some of those gaps. Momento will be published three times a year under a variety of different editors.

In the meantime, PhotoForum will continue in its usual print format as a widely available showcase for larger projects.

Publications like Haruhiko Sameshima’s Bold Centuries, and a selection of John Johns’s work, which are currently in the pipeline, require greater time and funding for their production, hence their irregularity. Our redesigned web site, www. photoforum-nz.org is continually growing, and our new blog provides up to the minute news and links to what is going on now, throughout this country and the rest of the world.

As a member of PhotoForum Inc., we hope that you will contribute some work, or otherwise increase your involvement, to make the most relevant and exciting forum for our collective visual and intellectual stimulation.

We would like to thank Abby Storey for allowing us to feature some of her work in this, the first edition of Momento. Abby is a highly motivated photographer who has continued to work on personal projects since graduating from Auckland’s Unitec in 1999. We are proud to feature what is a small thematic portfolio from a much larger and diverse body of work. Like that of so many fine photographers whose work too frequently lies under the radar of the art press, her work deserves much wider public recognition.

Feedback, and proposals for future issues of Momento, PhotoForum magazine, and our website and blog, are always welcome. These should be sent to the Publications Committee at info@photoforum-nz.org or to our postal address. Members are the backbone of our society, and we thank you for your continued support.

John B. Turner, Director, PhotoForum Inc., November 2007