7 April - 29 May 2022
First Floor Galleries
Opening Night: Wednesday 4 May, 6-8pm
This exhibition is part of the Auckland Festival of Photography 2022
Featuring work from Ziggy Bond, Christine Jeffs, Kim Lu, Timothy Mackrell, Saynab Muse, Yvonne Shaw and Christopher Young.
The photographic portrait has often been seen as a way of revealing the true identity of the sitter and photographers have been commended for their ability to capture the inner character of the subject. However contemporary photographic portraiture does not strive for this moment of truth. Instead it advances the notion that it is no longer, and maybe never was, attainable.
This exhibition of seven established and emerging Auckland artists presents an ambiguous set of images. These photographic/video works reveal far less than we have come to expect from portraits but at the same time open up possibilities of a different type of understanding. The subjects are impassive, leaving much to the viewer’s imagination. There is no social context and little attempt within the image to involve us in possible stories of the subjects.
What is subtly revealed are private and often contemplative psychological states. Complex, layered narratives lie behind the deadpan surface of these portraits but you have to read further about the works to put the pieces together.
It ain’t necessarily so explores the territory of interiority while also offering us an insight into lives only partially revealed, where categorical social roles are abandoned and the lens is turned to a more obscure and mutable psychological landscape.
About the Artists
Ziggy Bond, Ziggy Standing, 2020
Ziggy Bond
Ziggy Bond (He/Him) is a lens-based artist born and based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Working predominately in analogue techniques, Ziggy uses photography as a means to articulate and understand his lived experience. He began making images on film when he was 14, finding great inspiration from traditional dark room processes. Ziggy’s practice still includes much of what sparked his initial interest in the medium of photography in combination with digital practices. He is completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Photo Media at Whitecliffe, Auckland.
Christine Jeffs, Jasmine, 2017
Christine Jeffs
Christine Jeffs is a filmmaker and photographer. Her practice in photography is in portraiture and landscape, particularly focused on subjectivity. She is particularly interested in the ethics of engagement and the slippage between constructed and documentary moments. Christine’s landscapes and portraits open up a dialogue about what it is to look and what it is to see. Christine completed an MFA (First Class Honours) at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2018.
Kim Lu, Boshi Wang, 2020
Kim Lu
As a photographer who records everyday moments, Kim Lu finds herself torn between being an active participant and a separated observer. Documenting the everyday becomes a way to be part of the flow and cycle of human practices. Her photographs ask the audience to consider the mysterious in the everyday occurrence. Kim graduated with a Bachelor of Creative Enterprise, from Unitec, Auckland in 2020, also being awarded a Senior Scholar Award and an Excellence Award in Photography and Moving image.
Timothy Mackrell, The Future of an Illusion 2.0
Timothy Mackrell
Timothy Mackrell’s recent approach within his art practice has been forensic in its nature. His methodological documentation and, at times, reconstruction of scenes relates to his former role as a newspaper photographer and his current position as Technical lead/Photographer for the Anthropology Department at the University of Auckland. He completed an MFA (First Class Honours) at Elam School of Fine Arts in 2016.
Saynab Muse, Expression of Culture, 2019
Saynab Muse
Saynab Muse explores the possibilities of the portrait via photography and video. Originally from Somalia, her artistic practice reflects the experiences of her Somalian Muslim culture in New Zealand.
In 2019 Saynab graduated with a Bachelor of Creative Enterprise from Unitec, Auckland. That year her photobook Imaanshaha was published as the PhotoForum Membership Publication, PhotoForum #91 and was also selected as a finalist book in the 2019 Australia and NZ Photobook Award.
Yvonne Shaw, The Future of an Illusion 6.1
Yvonne Shaw
Yvonne Shaw is an artist and educator with advanced qualifications in photography, research, and Fine Arts. She utilizes photographic portraiture to investigate psychological relations between people. Her research-based practice draws from the theories and insights of Julia Kristeva and J.L. Moreno. Yvonne is completing a PhD in Fine Arts at The University of Auckland and lectures part-time at Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland.
Christopher Young, Pamela c.1965
Christopher Young
Christopher Young has just completed his first year of a DocFA at Elam School of Fine Arts. His thesis, Afar In The Desert: Mapping an Identity for South Africa’s 1820 Settler Descendants, explores whether art can become a means of giving voice to 1820 settler descendants in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, while still acknowledging the irreparable damage done to the indigenous way of life by their ancestors. Christopher also holds an MFA and a PGDipFA from Elam School of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts from Unitec, Auckland. In 2016 he was awarded the Eden Arts Art Schools Award Highly Commended prize and the Unitec Highest Academic Achievement Award for his work Life Support System, which explored the concept of the father as anti-hero.
Christine Jeffs, Timothy Mackrell, Yvonne Shaw and Christopher Young are represented through The Essence Archive, an art collective of thirteen New Zealand-based artists whose photographic works reflect multiple levels of meaning.
For more information on The Essence Archive, visit: