A challenging subject to capture

[Tronhard]

It will be a keel-hauling for you followed by 10 lashes of the cat.

That would make it a VERY long day!!!

[Tronhard]

Very interesting, Trev. Did the All Blacks recruit a few descendants from the aussie convicts. I mean Captain Cook also circumnavigated lil old Australia as well

True, he charted quite a bit of it, but it was after his death that someone had the idea of transportation. There is a really excellent documentary series narrated by Sam Neil on Captain Cook, his voyages and their impact - it's called The Pacific, In the Wake of Captain Cook. I have it on DVD and it is an excellent series but not a wholehearted endorsement of the man, or at least his legacy 250 years on.

Personally, I think that in the context of his time - the zeitgeist, if you will, Cook was a decent man. But he had his faults (who does not admittedly), and his efforts to explore and claim land for the English Crown certainly led to a lot of misery for many of the indigenous cultures that were thereafter colonized.

[Manfred M]

I find that images 4 and 5 are very effective. The interior shots are somehow just a bit too busy and the lighting is too distracting to work as a still image. I suspect being there or having those as a video would have been more effective.

You are 100% correct. Definitely a tough subject to shoot.

[Tronhard]

I find that images 4 and 5 are very effective. The interior shots are somehow just a bit too busy and the lighting is too distracting to work as a still image. I suspect being there or having those as a video would have been more effective.

You are 100% correct. Definitely a tough subject to shoot.

Hi Manfred:

Thanks for your observations!

I think the point of the artwork was to give you that feeling of distraction and confusion, so any viewing - be it in person, video or still image is going to have to deal with that. From what I have read the intent was to echo the confusion and (I am struggling for the right word) discomfort (perhaps) DISRUPTION(!) felt by Maori. The lights not only represent the stellar group but different colours (especially those of different light types) are intended to take away the token comfort of the state-built house - a type that so many Maori were put in, based on our European concepts of home.

Maori did not do nuclear families, they lived in multi-generational groups where the whanau (extended family) worked together to support the whole. We could learn a lot from this - our young parents are struggling to raise families and pay for homes, while our elders struggle with ageing and isolation.

The different colour casts also echo the racial challenges based on colour that have plagued Maori (and most other indigenous races) since colonization began. NZ does have racial issues, but our history is not anything like of most countries. For a start the Maori were fierce warriors and fought a war (the NZ wars) between about 1840 and 1890 the embroiled the British. At one time NZ employed the largest number of men under arms apart from Crimea! With all of our modern tech, the Maori were rarely beaten - for artillery they developed the concept of trench warfare before WWI - the bigger the gun the deeper the trench. Maori fought Maori and it was that, and our diseases the finally defeated them.

The statue of Cook is so highly reflective to allow that confusion to be imposed on his likeness. In a way, his many visits started the process that has led to their current state, so one could say "it's on him" that this has occurred...

[ST1]

Hi Trevor
Having just read your comments regarding the NZ wars it reminded me about a fascinating book “Strangerlands” that describes the life and times of a Family who emigrated to NZ (by way of India) included in the book are a number of descriptions of various battles/skirmishes between the Indigenous people and the incomers (of various nationalities).
The family around which the book is written has a more recent “personality” in Bamber Gascoigne who was the original presenter of a UK Television program “University Challenge” during the period 1962-87 and the program still on air today!
I found the book immensely moving and thought provoking, well worth a read if you can find a copy. The book gave me a broader perspective of the history of NZ.
Let me know if you want the details of the book I doubt it’s still in print but you may be able to find a copy on line.


Sent from somewhere in Gods County using Tapatalk

[Manfred M]

Hi Manfred:

Thanks for your observations!

I think the point of the artwork was to give you that feeling of distraction and confusion, so any viewing - be it in person, video or still image is going to have to deal with that. From what I have read the intent was to echo the confusion and (I am struggling for the right word) discomfort (perhaps) DISRUPTION(!) felt by Maori. The lights not only represent the stellar group but different colours (especially those of different light types) are intended to take away the token comfort of the state-built house - a type that so many Maori were put in, based on our European concepts of home.

Maori did not do nuclear families, they lived in multi-generational groups where the whanau (extended family) worked together to support the whole. We could learn a lot from this - our young parents are struggling to raise families and pay for homes, while our elders struggle with ageing and isolation.

The different colour casts also echo the racial challenges based on colour that have plagued Maori (and most other indigenous races) since colonization began. NZ does have racial issues, but our history is not anything like of most countries. For a start the Maori were fierce warriors and fought a war (the NZ wars) between about 1840 and 1890 the embroiled the British. At one time NZ employed the largest number of men under arms apart from Crimea! With all of our modern tech, the Maori were rarely beaten - for artillery they developed the concept of trench warfare before WWI - the bigger the gun the deeper the trench. Maori fought Maori and it was that, and our diseases the finally defeated them.

The statue of Cook is so highly reflective to allow that confusion to be imposed on his likeness. In a way, his many visits started the process that has led to their current state, so one could say "it's on him" that this has occurred...

Trevor, all that may be correct, but I am looking purely at the images and how effective they are as images (both as stand alone and as a set). The 2D digital image is a long way from the 3D, projected light display, probably with a sound track.

You were there and influenced by that, the rest of us can only see what you have shown us in these images.

[Tronhard]

Not to argue with you at all, in fact from a purely image point of view I would agree with you! I must say that viewed live it wasn't much easier to look at, one is dazzled and confused by the lights and their reflections - but that was the artist's stated intent: his title the Light House was a statement that he wanted to have it seen at night (the lights are never turned off though), and the dazzling effect to overwhelm us - and it does.

I rarely take an image just as an image - as a pure capture, my purpose is to tell stories, be it when I go hiking or view a work of art. My interest always includes the contextual (hence the commentary) and I am presenting it as such, thus my title of a Challenging Subject was also a play on words - the images are challenging to engage with on a photographic and social context.

So every individual will take what they will from what I presented, (that is the nature of any expressive endeavour) but for me they, as a group, tell the story I discovered.

[Tronhard]

I am sure just a slip of your pen, but it was Trafalgar, not Waterloo.

I just watched a Ted Talk that explains my lapse in what is called Executive Function. I now realize that I am not senile! https://www.ted.com/talks/sabine_doe..._to_improve_it

Whew...

[lovelife65]

Very nice series!
He lights and overall subject.. fun and interesting.