Friday 29 May 2009
Ron Brownson
This image is an amazing affirmation of love. No one other than this woman's partner could have made such a gentle and intimate beach shot as this. His striped blazer has become her pillow, his own towel is scrupled on the sand next to her. It is an East Coast beach somewhere north of Auckland. High summer. Romance away from the family. Such a snapshot shows why personal photography is so special, it is the stuff that memories are made of and what relationships built on. It is photography solely for the person that makes the photograph and the person being photographed. Yet, oddly, when you remember that only one print was usually ever made of a snapshot and that this one was later discarded. It makes you think - where did the love go?
On Sunday 7 June at 1pm I will talk about Snapshots - The Vernacular in New Zealand Photography in the Gallery's Art Lounge.