A selection of vintage silver-gelatin prints by John B. Turner is displayed in gallery room 1. The opening is on Saturday 13th April, 11.30am to 2pm, and the exhibition runs until 4th May, 2024. (John will not be attending the opening.)

In 2019 I was involved in curating an exhibition of John's vintage photographs of Johnsonville for a display at Waitohi in Johnsonville  on behalf of Photography Aotearoa. The intention was to show vintage prints from this set of photographs at Photospace during the run of  'A Walk Down Johnsonville Road'. But Covid-19 intervened, with NZ going into full lockdown and that plan had to be shelved. Until now.

It's interesting, I think, to have John's vintage silver-gelatin photographs in the gallery on the wall opposite Mary Hutchinson's exhibition of recent digitally-captured and pigment-printed street photography - 'Digital'
Both exhibitions run from 13th April (opening 11.30am-2pm) till 4th May, 2024.

John B Turner is an editor, publisher, writer and educator in the field of photography, as well as a photographer in his own right, although he has unselfishly put most of his energy into promoting other photographers work. He was highly influential in the development of contemporary New Zealand photography from the late 1960s through to the 1980s, and, despite relocating to Beijing a decade ago, he remains closely involved in the NZ scene.
With his energy and passion, and the platforms of Elam (he was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Auckland’s Elam School of Fine Arts in 1971) and PhotoForum (an organisation he co-founded in 1973 that is still actively promoting NZ photography), he has exerted enormous influence on the early development of contemporary photography in this country. John currently lives in Beijing, China.

'Digital' opens on Saturday 13th April, 11.30am-2pm in gallery room 1 along with vintage photographs of Johnsonville in the 1960s by John  B. Turner. Both exhibitions run till 4th May 2024.

 'Digital' - Mary Hutchinson
 
"Human hands and feet, with their tones, textures and associated adornments, are recurring themes in my street photography. The variety of interacting gestures, skin surfaces, jewellery, body art, clothing, and objects such as bags, toys, and pets, which we carry around with us in public, have always intrigued and drawn me in. 
  
"Such detailed observation perhaps echoes my previous work as a doctor, and my lifelong passion for up-close exploration and noticing in the natural world. 
 
"Whilst photographing personal human details, I fleetingly experience moments of connectedness to my subjects; focusing in on the poignant visual stories ‘told’ by hands, feet, clothing and decoration. In these instances, I feel in some ways that my hands, holding my carried camera or phone, mirror what is going on with the hands, and even feet of my subjects, as they, like me, go about their daily journeys in the street. "