The relationship between space, place and photography is as old as the development of photography itself. Over that time photography has literally redefined our social, cultural and political notions of place and space itself.
The space I have chosen to explore photographically is Te Ahumairangi Hill (formerly known as Tinakori Hill), a track that connects Northland to Wadestown Rd. I have taken understanding to the natural, cultural and especially the historical aspects of Te Ahumairangi Hill, going by the interpretation signage that tells a story about the history of the hill. Before European settlement, the entire ridgeline was known as Te Ahumairangi. When Europeans settled, one of the first roads constructed ran along the foot of the range.
In the last 160 years, over 10,000 trees have been planted, as well as many significant changes undergone, with the removal of some 10.5 hectares of pines from the steep lower slopes of Te Ahumairangi. The reason for this was the damage caused by severe weather storms in 2004.
The images I have taken consist of a theme for adventure, a place for a film shoot, and the cultural notions of Te Ahumairangi Hill. I have photographically explored the place under different weather conditions, e.g fine, misty. I have also captured some images of the place at nighttime creating a spooky and horror film based
atmosphere of Te Ahumairangi Hill.
For the second week, I then tried photographing on a foggy day, and also tried some night shoots as well. The images weren't very clear, but they displayed a different atmosphere to the wide open space- making it somewhat scary and mysterious, and with no colorful scenery
The images below I took were of the same area on a foggy day. These images were shot from the same camera angle, however the camera was reset to its default setting, so the scenery wasn't brought out so much
Now for the night photographs: these images are difficult to see in detail, but are good for a different type of perspective on the area. I changed the setting on the camera to a 'night view,' which altered the lighting of the images to a faint orange glow, giving life to the images as a whole.
PANORAMA
For the third week, I focused on making the images into a series. The series consisted of the view from the peak of the hill, capturing Mt. Kaukau in the beginning images of the panorama. The panorama had seven images within it, and each image was altered slightly in size, shape and lighting to make the series more accurate
FINAL IMAGES
My final images were chosen carefully in order to ensure they had no significant similarities to one another. They were all taken in different time periods on different days. They all had a different perspective and a different camera focus.
