Photography exhibition

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33653, 1 October 1974, Page 5

Photography exhibition

Fifty-three news media photographs, the work of photographers Derrick Tonkin, Les Wesney, Neville Hawke, Stuart Menzies, Des Woods, John McCombe, Francis Kay and Colin Simpson, are on display at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery.

The exhibition serves as a wonderful recall of many incidents that have captured the public mind in New Zealand in recent times. The dramatic rescue of the truck driver on Moncks Spur Road, the horror of a Volkswagen ripped apart in an accident, mud flying in a Riccarton finish, great and amusing moments in sport, people at the Commonwealth Games, Mr Kirk’s funeral, the Christchurch bus strike, the demonstration at the airport, side-car racing and various pop stars are just some of the subjects frozen for us to reflect upon. Some photographs in the exhibition go beyond the primary function of visual reporting. Two such works are “Chairlift Coronet Peak” by Neville Hawke, which exploits the very linear and graphic qualities of the chair-lift machinery, and “Expelled Schoolgirls-Wendy Rich and Helen Leonard” by Len Wesney, a print that portrays the two subjects with the same austere, timeless quality as a Jan van Eyck or Hans Holbein portrait. .-The exhibition will remain open until November 2. G.T.M.