John Pennington - artist statement
"The work in this exhibition: This is How We Live is taken from an ongoing project based in Tairāwhiti Gisborne. The impetus for this project comes from the need to locate myself as a recent arrival into Tairāwhiti and to reflect the diverse nature of this community.       

"I arrived in Tairāwhiti Gisborne in May 2022, just a few months before the East Coast was hammered by cyclone Hale and then by the monster of them all, Gabrielle. A hell’uva introduction. Although it’s impossible to ignore the effects of such devastation, the work - and there are images that reference this - isn’t preoccupied by it. Instead, the current and ongoing work focuses on the people, events and jobs that tie this community together to make it the unique place it is. Māori presence and influence are major factors in understanding Tairawhiti: history is ever present. Tairāwhiti is where Cook first encountered Māori, and that didn’t go so well. This is not easily forgotten, and emotions still run deep as one of the images testifies. Living and working in Tairāwhiti brings you closer to New Zealand’s colonial past and its ongoing effects more proximately than many other places in New Zealand. I am constantly reminded of this in my approach."

John Pennington is a Gisborne-based photographer. He is a member of the PhotoForum committee and teaches photography through the ACE programme at EIT. His photographic interests include rocks, urban spaces, and going out into the world. This is How We Live is his second exhibition at Photospace Gallery, after Hidden in Plain Site in 2020.

Heinz Sobiecki has had numerous solo exhibitions at Photospace Gallery since 2003, when he retired from life as a fashion and commercial photographer - a career he began in NZ after arriving from Germany in the early 1960s. Most of his exhibition work has been black & white and hand-printed in his own darkroom, but this series was been printed digitally (by Oliver at Picaflor Fine Art Printing on Ilford Smooth Rag paper). He took the photos on his recently-acquired Leica M11 Monochrom - something of a work of art in itself. The camisole in the photographs was bought in Berlin in 2015.

The exhibition opening is on Saturday 7th September, 11.30am to 1.30pm - no formalities. You're welcome to come along. Heinz's exhibition runs till 5th October.
Gallery hours: 10am-3pm Monday-Friday, 11am-2pm Saturdays.
Closed Sundays and public holidays. Admission free. Works are for sale.