hola!

Portrait by Ross T Smith

a buggs life

Light series designed by Sebastian Wrong of
British company Established & Sons.

god draug era web

bookish

I spent Saturday sorting out an old collection of books.
What struck me is how distinct eras of human existence
are so well defined by their assembly of content and by
graphic design. Typography, paper stock, cover images
or embossing.
E-books will probably takeover as a convenient way of
conveying content in its pure form and I think books will
become even more precious objects than they are today.
Their musty smell and smooth surfaces. The sometimes
archaic form of language. The stories within. A re- edition
of a classic offers a form of time travel which remains linked
to the present - as it is repackaged for a contemporary eye.

What a revelation when one sets hands on a first edition.
It forces you to leave the comfortable context of 'today'
as time and place and enter into one of 'then'. Not always
interesting or easy to interpret at first glance.

Above, a picture of first edition Penguins found at Tivoli Gallery,
Waiheke Island. Paperback the fragrance captures the musty
essence of old books left to moulder in a summer house.

flora hauora

These were published in urbis magazine at
least two years ago. It was one of my favourite
features.
I had the idea that I wanted to do flower arrangement
story that only utilised native flora. I had this leafy green
and stark white vision in my head but actually when I
met up with Katie Lockhart - the stylist - all I said was
that it had to be a still life story featuring native flora.
I knew that Katie would come up with something beautiful.
Katie worked with Derek Henderson - the photographer-
to create these pictures. Katie took the idea further
and found native plants that have medicinal properties.
Derek kept it simple and played with light and shadow in
a very subtle way.
Looking at it again today I am struck by how crisp and
beautiful it is and I feel an interesting aesthetic quality
was uncovered.