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K E V I N C A P O N Kevin Capon's photographs have an "uncanny quality, a subtle and disturbing strangeness that seems inexplicable" John Hurrell, writer/editor for EyeContact website, Aotearoa, New Zealand. . kevin@capon.co.nz Mokau, North Taranaki, New Zealand Represented by Sanderson Contemporary Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand, +649-520 0501 .info@sanderson.co.nz . Kevin Capon biography bottom of page _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . A man in the street Pigment Ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 177 x 255mm Edition of 12 . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
. A woman in the street Pigment Ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 127 x 178mm Edition of 12 . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . .
. Palm reading in the sunlight (the last days of 2020) Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 214 x 305mm Edition of 12 . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
. Stainless-steel pot and chicken pieces, 2020 Digital Chromogenic print, 600 x 800mm Edition of 8 . . . ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . A Conversation with Carol, 2020 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 406 x 507mm . Edition of 12 . . . . .______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . .
. Black stocking and fake diamond studded shoe, 2020 . Digital Chromogenic print, 380 x 507mm . Edition of 8 . . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . Apollo International Art Magazine . Review of Te Weke Exhibition by Matthew Kerr . 12 August 2020 . https://www.apollo-magazine.com/te-wheke-christchurch-art-gallery-review/ . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . Hush Puppy Triptych, 2020 . Digital Chromogenic prints, each 127 x 178mm . Edition of 12 . . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . Two artist portraits by Kevin Capon Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū Friday 7 August 2020 / 12pm .
. Join volunteer guide Stephanie Beth as she discusses Kevin Capon's photographic portraits of Merata Mita and Ralph Hotere in Te Wheke on the first floor. Meet at the top of the stairs. Art Bites are 30-minute lunchtime presentations on a single work on display, presented by our staff, guides and guest speakers.
OPEN 7 DAYS 10am – 5pm, Wednesday 10am – 9pm Cnr Worcester Boulevard and Montreal Street, PO Box 2626, Ōtautahi Christchurch 8140, Aotearoa New Zealand (+64 3) 941 7300 . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
. Returning to the exact same spot I once visited 25 years ago . C-Type Chromogenic Print, 178 x 254mm Edition of 12 . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū May 2020 – March 2022 .
. New Zealand's history in art has long been seen through a European lens, but a new exhibition in Christchurch is challenging that perception. Featuring work by more than 70 artists including; Kevin Capon, Shane Cotton, Tony Fomison, Charles Goldie, Bill Hammond, Robyn Kahukiwa, Doris Lusk, Colin McCahon, Fiona Pardington, Michael Parekowhai, Lisa Reihana, Peter Robinson, Toss Woollaston, Robin White and others. Te Weke: Pathways Accross Ocieana tells stories of the Pacific, of belonging and what it means to be at home, and offers an alternative way to think about how we are linked across time and place. It brings together a mix of traditional and contemporary art forms – including weaving, carving, painting, video, sculpture, photography – to explore themes of navigation, belonging and identity. . Curated by Ken Hall, Nathan Pohio, Felicity Milburn, Lara Strongman and Peter Vangioni, . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
, S Spittle 2020 . Digital Chromogenic print, 415 x 600mm . Edition of 8 . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . .
. Red flower in the sunlight, 2020 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 232 x 340mm . Edition of 8 . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . ANZAC DAY 2020 .
. Today it is my birthday, I was born on ANZAC day 1959. My Granddad Capon who fought in WW1 was always very proud of the fact his grandson was the ANZAC boy. Today sadly there will be no formal ANZAC day commemorations nor any celebration of my birthday, this is because New Zealand along with the rest of the world is currently in lock down due to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. It will be a significantly changed world that we enter back into. Private Corporal Robert Capon (WW1-71036) was born in Ashburton, New Zealand 7/9/1898 - 14/12/1979 Robert Capon a farmer’s labourer was conscripted into the armed forces at 20 years old from the main body of the Otago infantry battalion 35th reinforcements C company on the 7/9/1917. He was part of the NZ expeditionary force in the Great War of 1914 - 1918 and embarked for overseas duty on the 2/3/1918. He foot marched across Western Europe and spent a total of 536 days on active foreign service. He was discharged on the 17/9/1919 and received the illuminated certificate of service, the British War medal and the Victory Medal in 1920. He took up a rehab farm at Titoki, Whangarei and went on to marry Joyce Leroy Carmichael having four children one of which was my dad Thomas Phillip Capon. Grandad Capon was always a very fit and healthy man, he was proud of his war service and always stood to attention when greeting others, including his grandchildren. Aroha nui . . .________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .. .
. . Alma, 2020 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 203 x 254mm . Edition of 25 . . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . .
. .. Self Portrait for 2020 . Digital Chromogenic print, 450 x 600mm . Edition of 8 . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . .
. Time conscious, Tea for two . Digital Chromogenic print, 600 x 800mm . Edition of 12 . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . .
. Film # 5471 . C-Type Chromogenic print, 600 x 900mm . Edition of 10 . . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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. Crystal Goblets Flutes and Window Light, Mokau 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 500 x 888mm . Edition of 12 . . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . ..
. Sticky Fly Killer, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 600 x 826mm . Edition of 8 . . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . .. . ' '
. The Freemason, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print from a found photograph, 200 x 150mm . Edition of 12 . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . .
. Black leather shoes with plasticine talons, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 600 x 800mm . Edition of 12 . . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . SYDNEY CONTEMPORARY, 2019 Colin McCahon’s Muriwai Studio Floor . In 1984 I photographed Colin McCahon at his home in Auckland. Some years later in 2005 I came across his studio in Muriwai. This studio was owned by Colin and Anne from 1969 to 1978 and was almost completely unrecognisable from the garage/shed it once was except for the floor which was in original condition well preserved under carpet overlay. The new owners of the property were in the final stages of renovating the studio in order to sell it and buy a new septic tank. Remarkably McCahon’s own family were under the impression the studio no longer existed, they considered it nothing more than a pile of old rotten floor boards, and his biographer along with art bureaucrats in Aotearoa/New Zealand viewed it as having no real significance. I disagree with their sentiments, not only because it was well known that having this studio was a life long dream for McCahon enabling him to paint many of his largest and most important paintings including; Victory over Death, Gate 111 series, and the Tuhoe Urewera Murals, but also because it is imbued with the Mana of the Whakapapa and the stories that were laid down upon it. Even McCahon himself did not separate the secular from the sacred and always insisted on respect for the inherent spirit held within a work, he also indicated the importance of accepting a Maori view point and questioned mono cultural aspects of our culture. In terms of ‘Te Ao Maori’ Colin McCahon’s Muriwai Studio Floor is significant, it is a taonga and it deserves to be preserved in a similar way to Jackson Pollock’s studio floor https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/pkhouse/housestudio.php or closer to home, Janet Frame’s writing desk now housed at the International Institute of Modern Letters https://discover.stqry.com/v/literature-and-culture/s/cf4b9842-ba93-407e-84ed-4aa87f90de76 In 2005 Carol and I purchased this studio in order to save the floor from being destroyed, it is now safely stored away in Mokau, North Taranaki. The photographs in this exhibition were made just before the floor was carefully removed from the building, this is the first time these photographs have ever been shown. This exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous support of Creative New Zealand Funding. .
Eastward view, Colin McCahon's Muriwai Studio Floor, 2005, c-type, chromogenic print, 660mm x 790mm
Westward view, Colin McCahon's Muriwai Studio Floor, 2005, c-type, chromogenic print, 625mm x 760mm . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
.. Colour Test . C-Type Chromogenic Print, 127 x 177mm Edition of 12 . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . The missing sock, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 540 x 720mm . Edition of 12 . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ .. . . . . . .
. Dog, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 126 x 178mm . Edition of 12 . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . .
. Carol crying, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 560 x 810mm . Edition of 8 . . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . Auckland Festival of Photograghy 2019 . 31st May to 16th June .
Kevin Capon: Black sand rocks shells and driftwood arrangement, Mokau 2017, C-Type Chromogenic Print, 1200 x 1500mm, Edition of 8 . The Auckland Festival of Photography 2019 is NZ's premium international photographic festival, that brings together photographers, curators, students, amateurs and professionals for the aim of encouraging the public to celebrate the art of photography. Kevin Capon's photographs will be on exhibition during the festival at Sanderson Contemporary Art Gallery in Auckland. "His works are eclectic. From the grotesque to sublime beauty, he photographs extremes and all facets of life's gritty yet beautiful path" http://www.photographyfestival.org.nz/programme/index.cfmtheme=Exhibitions&exhibition_date=1%20june%202019 . Verve Magazine artical, June 2019 "Kevin Capon turns everyday items into confrontational portraits; a book taped to a wall, a branch from a rose bush, a close up of a tattooed hand with a missing finger – all of his subjects stand stark as statements within themselves. Documenting such common items as if they are curiosities evokes broader real-world issues around our own societal truths, which can leave you feeling quietly unnerved" https://www.vervemagazine.co.nz/art-of-june/ . SANDERSON show is from the 22 May - 9 June Opens 5:30pm on Tuesday 21 May Hours 10:00 - 6:00 Mon - Fri & 10:00 - 4:00 Sat - Sun Osborne Lane: 2-4 Kent Street, Newmarket 09 520 0501 . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
. Dot, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 203 x 254mm . Edition of 12 . . . Today I turn 60 years old, born ANZAC DAY 1959. Carol has made me my every-year birthday cake, that is, a round sponge smeared with raspberry jam topped with whipped cream. It is curtainly no posh designer cake, but back in the day when my mother would make it, it was the most special of cakes to me. It is a working class cake from my family's coal-mining heritage in Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand. . . . . .
. Ocean Mist & Lavender, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 500 x 600mm . Edition of 12 . . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . Poison armpit, 2019 . Digital Chromogenic print, 400 x 597mm . Edition of 12 . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . .
. Mouth Guard, 2018 . .Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 500 x 600mm . Edition of 8 . . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . .
. Woman in a cross strap evening dress, 2018 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 202 x 304mm . Edition of 12 . . . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . .
. The crying boy, 2018 . Digital Chromogenic print, 202 x 304mm . Edition of 12 . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . .
. Chandelier . Digital Chromogenic print, 566 x 850mm . Edition of 10 . . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . .. . . . . . Foot, 2018 . Digital Chromogenic print, 560 x 850mm . Edition of 8 . . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . .
. . Lavatory, 2018 . Digital Chromogenic Print, 1010 x 1350mm . Edition of 8 . . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . . . . Merata Mita: Film Premier NZ International Film Festival 2018 http://www.meratathemovie.com/ .
Taika Waititi, Chelsea Winstanley, Hepi Mita and Cliff Curtis at the premiere of Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen.
Cliff Curtis, Rima Te Wiata, Anne Thorp with the film poster of Merata Mita photographed by Kevin Capon in 1984, taken from an original limited edition gold & selenium toned gelatin silver contact print, 195 x 245mm. . The film 'Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen' is directed by Heperi Mita and produced by Chelsea Winstanley, Tearepa Kahi and Cliff Curtis. Merata Mita, pioneering Māori filmmaker and international champion of women in indigenous film, is celebrated by her youngest son, archivist Heperi Mita, collaborating with his siblings to deliver a richly personal portrait. Best known for her films Bastion Point: Day 507 and Patu! – on the forcible removal of the occupiers of the disputed land, and the nascent protest movement against the 1981 Springbok Tour – were both absolute triumphs of observational documentary making in front-line conditions. These films attracted significant international attention and praise. “The revolution isn’t just running out with a gun. If a film I make causes indigenous people to feel stronger about themselves, then I’m achieving something worthwhile for the revolution.” Merata Mita . . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . .
. Seroquel Slut c.2017 Digital Chromogenic Print, 297 x 420 mm . . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . A small suite of 5 photographs from the John B. Turner / Art New Zealand feature article on Kevin Capon will be on exhibition at the Sanderson Art Gallery in Auckland during the Auckland Festival of Photography 31 May to 22 June 2018. .
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. The Gideons Retreat, 2018 . Digital Chromogenic Print, 355 x 476mm . Edition of 12 . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . The shaking bunny Video Still from a real time HDMI continuous play video loop . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . A Compelling Commentary . D-Photo Magazine - issue 83, 2018 . Article on Kevin Capon written by Adrian Hatwell . .
. . Click Here to read the D-Photo article on Kevin Capon . . . . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . .
. Mudflap, 2018 . Digital Chromogenic Print, 405 x 507mm . Edition of 12 . . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . Picture Post . Real-photo postcards from the . William Main collection . .
. . . . . . . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . Mokau Museum and Gallery Winners of the Service IQ Museum Visitor Experience Award 2017 Kevin Capon: Portraits 1984-85 15 December, 2017 - 25 January, 2018 .
Doris Lusk, Painter, Queenstown, New Zealand 1985 To coincide with the second anniversary of the opening of the Mokau Museum Art Gallery I will be showing 26 portraits selected by Carol Te Teira Capon from our collection of 40-unique gold/selenium toned gelatin silver 10 x 8 inch contact prints shown at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Dowse Art Museum in the 1980’s. You can read about these portraits here: http://mokaumuseum.nz/exhibition/kevin-capon-portraits-1984-85/ And the Taranaki Daily News article here: https://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/lifestyle/99622361/small-seaside-gallery-nabs-exhibition-of-national-significance The Mokau Museum and Gallery under the guidance of Jan Brown and the volunteer staff are doing a fantastic job not only in creating an outstanding venue for displaying local and regional artifacts and artworks, but also in binding together a community with a long history of division. The Museum’s collection consists of approximately 3000 artefacts including taonga, social history and natural history. Numerous photographs and archives make up the rest of the collection. In early 2016 the Mokau Museum and Gallery was featured in the excellent TV series 'Heritage Rescue' and soon after became the Winners of the Service IQ Museum Visitor Experience Award 2017. . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . .
. Home irrigation system, 2017 . C-Type Chromogenic Print, 1200 x 1500mm Edition of 8 . __________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . .
. Mt Pleasant (28.5.2010 -1:10pm) C-Type Chromogenic Print, 800 x 800mm Edition of 6 . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .
. Saint Kilda, 2006 C-Type Chromogenic Print, 995 x 1177mm Edition of 6 . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . .
. Self portrait, 2017 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 600 x 800mm . Edition of 8 . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . .. . . .
. Green box and kindling, 2017 Digital Chromogenic Print, 560 x 850mm Edition 12 . . ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . .. . . .
. Carol in a dark room, 1997 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 127 x 178mm . Edition of 12 . . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . Malcolm Smith Gallery, Auckland 1 May - 3 June 2017 . Yvonne Todd, Patrick Pound, Kevin Capon, Solomon Mortimer, Tia Ranginui, Russ Flatt, Ashlin Rawson, Stephanie O`Conner, Richard Orjis, Di ffrench, Mish O`Neil, Jenna Baydee, Ashlin Rawson, Liyen Chong . .
Tessa, 2012 . Bright Light, Soft Launch brings together emerging and established artists exploring representations of the figure through image making. The artists featured take a poetic and nuanced approach to portrait photography, teasing out characters and personas and presenting their subjects in a kaleidoscope of ways. Some intend to blur and muddle typical perceptions; others mix stereotypes and narratives with nostalgia and tradition. All present a different way of contemplating how the figure can be captured through a lens. Uxbridge Malcolm Smith Gallery. . http://www.uxbridge.co.nz/home/gallery/ . . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . . . . Holding a piece of paper, 2017 . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 160 x 270mm . Edition of 25 . . . ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . .
. Boy swinging on a tree vine . Pigment ink on Hahnemuhle photo-rag, 600 x 800mm . Edition of 8 . . . _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . .. . .
. Black Harvest, 2016 . Still from a continuous play video loop . . .. . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . . . ______________________________________________________________________________________ . . Echo . City Art Rooms . 3 Feb - 28 Feb 2009 . .
Pink, 2005 C-Type Chromogenic Print, 1065 x 1460mm . From deadpan to deadly in new photography show at City Art Rooms New Zealand based artist, Kevin Capon, presents a major solo exhibition of his photographic work spanning 20 years. The exhibition, Echo, features traditional black and white photographs hand-printed by the artist in the darkroom, in addition to more contemporary colour and digital processes. In an unusual twist, Capon has not photographed all of the images. They come from a mixture of sources, including recent news stories covering war, outdated advertisements, and images found at a local garage sale. These ‘borrowed’ and manipulated images are then interspersed with biographical photos and deadpan images of objects shot in the studio like catalogue products. By using both found and his own original imagery, Kevin Capon questions the authorship and ownership of the millions of images we encounter everyday. The series also explores the multiple functions and iterations of photography as a medium – to document and catalogue, preserve memories, communicate information, spread propaganda, and make us buy things. . __________________________________________________________________________________________________ . . . Bridge Art Fair-Berlin . 30 October - 2 November 2008 . . .
Electroblitz-electronic insect control 2006 C-Type Chromogenic print, 1200 x 1500mm Bridge Art Fair is an invitational satellite art fair for emerging galleries that coincides with the weekend of Art Forum Berlin, attracting thousands of visitors from across the world. Envisioned as a more experimental platform than traditional art fairs, Bridge eschews the white cube 'booth' model in favour of occupying an entire apartment block in the thriving Mitte district, which is home to the important Kunst-Werke (KW) Institute of Contemporary Art and leading Auguststrasse galleries. The site-specific location offers a unique experience in curating works, which will be integrated into the building's historic setting. . . ____________________________________________________________________________________ . The Brothel Without Walls, Group Exhibition 27 May - 21 June 2008 .
Hyperhidrosis 2004 Gelatin Silver Print, 361x 490mm The advent of photography transformed society into ‘the brothel without walls’, according to philosopher and media theorist Marshall McLuhan. Visual fantasies initiated the rampant consumption and commercialisation of all aspects of everyday life. The photographers in this dynamic group exhibition reveal how photography has engaged and altered our behavior in the ways we shop, love, arrange our homes, travel, and engage with media, while questioning the surfaces of a picture-perfect world. . . _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . Portraits 1984/85, Solo exhibition Campbell Grant Galleries 1 - 26 July 2008 . . Colin McCahon 1984, Gelatin Silver Contact Print 8 x 10 inch gold/selenium toned. Kevin Capon’s photographic project was undertaken over the period 1984-85, with funding received from the QEII Arts Council. A series of 40 black-and-white portraits of prominent New Zealanders from within the arts community (of which 27 will be shown in this exhibition), this body of work offers a fascinating insight into a particular moment in this country’s cultural heritage. Including images of key figures from the visual arts, architecture, literature, dance, theatre, and television, (selected by the Arts Council) Capon has produced an incisive and aesthetically compelling archive. These photographs occupy an interesting position between traditional notions of the portrait and the more contemporary concept of ‘the face’. Traditionally thought of as an object that captures something of the unique character of the sitter, more recent theorizing has repositioned the portrait as a complex site that might be constructed in a number of different ways and which often positions the face as a kind of landscape to be explored. How, then, to reconcile this abstract terrain of the face with the revelation of individual personality? Speaking of these works, Capon articulates his interest in pursuing a “raw simplicity”, or more specifically in exploring how much of an individual’s character can be revealed by showing as little as possible. In this sense, Capon’s images shift between the abstract and the figurative, between pure description and the inscription of identity. There is a certain severity in this descriptive approach. The close-up, tightly cropped images were produced using a large format camera that allowed the most minute of details to be recorded. Each photograph offers an uncompromising rendering of its subject where every crease, pore or imperfection is made visible. This is perhaps most vividly played out in the images of Jeffery Harris, Merata Mita, Eric H McCormick or Tim Shadbolt. Many of the images are nonetheless instantly recognisable and give us a glimpse of the inner life of the individual. Doris Lusk appears with her trademark dark, rounded glasses. Ralph Hotere is unmistakable with his wild hair and wiry moustache. Other pictures capture a more allusive quality, from the eccentric flair of choreographer Shona Dunlop MacTavish to the intense, straightforward gaze of Sir Miles Warren and the wry glint of Angela D’Audney. Certain of the photographs have a stilled, otherworldly atmosphere. With his expressionless face and closed eyes, Raymond Hawthorne’s portrait has a ghostly feel, taking on the appearance of a post-mortem photograph. There is a distant wide-eyed quality in the photograph of Ellie Smith that evokes a sense of the unreal, making her appear more doll-like than human. A similar stillness and far away gaze can also be seen in the portrait of Cilla McQueen, although this image is enlivened by the camera angle that foregrounds the thick, quirky lenses of McQueen’s glasses. The image of Colin McCahon is particularly striking, and perhaps somewhat unsettling. In this photograph the heroic figure of New Zealand painting is pictured with downcast eyes as a vulnerable old man. The photo is particularly poignant as it was taken at the request of Anne McCahon, who had previously seen and admired Capon’s work, and is one of the few photographs of McCahon taken during this period of his life. Barbara Garrie 24 June 2008 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ . The Waitomo Caves whole plate glass negatives by Sydney Benjamin Taylor 1924 .
In my collection of photographs stored away in the original wooden box made of Kauri is 29 whole plate glass negatives (6,1/2" x 8,1/2") of the Waitomo Caves made in the early 1920's by Sydney Benjamin Taylor. Sydney Benjamin Taylor was born in Port Chalmers 1887 and was one of a small group of pioneering New Zealand cinematographers and photographers who worked for the Department of Tourist and Health Resorts which was established in 1901. The Government Tourist Department was charged with improving facilities for tourists and encouraging international visitors to New Zealand, it was the first government department in the world set up solely to develop and promote a nation’s tourism market. Sydney Taylor filmed the NZEF re-enforcements in training for the front and a copy was sent to the NZ High Commission in London in late 1915 which received world wide distribution through Pathe Gazette L WE, Taylor had filmed what the NZ Truth labelled New Zealand's "First gamble in human life". Taylor's film scenes in NZ were shown at the San Francisco Exhibition in 1915 and the Southern Alps of NZ toured in both New Zealand and Australia in 1918. These whole plate glass negatives are of national importance and capable of producing some of the finest photographs of the Waitomo Caves in existence pre-1925, as such I will be releasing a limited edition of 18 Gelatin Silver contact prints made directly from these negatives in 2013/14 at a cost of $8500, the photographs will come mounted and over matted on 100% acid free conservation board. To receive further information on Sydney B. Taylor or to purchase a set of these prints please contact me direct. kevin@capon.co.nz A selection of 5 images from the collection of 18 are displayed on this site including what is believed to be evidence of the first ever film made inside the Waitomo Caves by a New Zealand cinematographer, also above is a glass negative of Guide Huti.
____________Along with my collection of Taylor's Whole Glass Plate Negatives is a small number of Imperial Dry Plate Glass Negatives (140 x 88mm) taken during the time he worked as a cinematographer and photographer for The Government Tourist Department (1912 - 1923) these photographs were made in the Cook Islands either in 1919 or in 1920 when Taylor accompanied Lord Ranfurly to Fiji, Samoa and Rarotonga. Unfortunately no film footage exists from this expedition as the highly flammable nitrate film was likely destroyed in a fire, other government films made around this time were melted down to make belt buckles during the second world war.______________
. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ . KEVIN CAPON Born Christchurch Aotearoa/New Zealand, lives in Mokau North Taranaki, NZ. Originally a commercial advertising photographer Kevin Capon went on to become a lecturer in Photography at Wellington Polytechnic, (1985-1990) and in 1992 established a private photographic training organisation for which he was nominated as a finalist for the New Zealand Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards. He left teaching in 2007 and works as a photographic artist. Kevin Capon‘s distinctions and awards include; Air New Zealand Fashion Week - Invited artist, Auckland (2009); Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Award, Hamilton - Finalist (2007, 2006); COCA/Anthony Harper Contemporary Art Award, Christchurch - Finalist (2007); Waikato Society of Arts Award - Finalist (2006); Mana Magazine Photographic Competition - Winner (2003); Agfa Photokina Travel Award to Cologne, Germany (1990); Art Quest International, New York, USA - Merit Award Winner (1988); Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council Grant (1984); Polaroid International Corporation Film Grant (1983); Diploma in Photography, Wellington Polytechnic; Graduate in Graphic Design, Christchurch Technical Institute. Publications and articles on Kevin’s photography include; Art New Zealand issue166, 2018 'Reciprocity' by John B. Turner, D-Photo Magazine 2018 'A compelling Commentary' by Adrian Hatwell, Australia and New Zealand Photography International Magazine and Art New Zealand as well as various dealer gallery artist books and he was selected by photo-historian William Main for a public lecture entitled Four Contemporary New Zealand Photographers at City Art Gallery, Wellington NZ. Capon’s photographs have been exhibited in public galleries throughout New Zealand including; Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, (May 2020 – March 2022); Kevin Capon Portraits 1984-85; Mokau Museum and Gallery (2017); Bright Light, Soft Launch, Malcolm Smith Gallery (2017), Pingyao International Photo Festival (2015); Dunedin Public Art Gallery (2015); City Art Gallery (2015); Gus Fisher Gallery Auckland (2014); History in the taking: 40 years of Photoforum, Everyday Irregular, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui (2011); White Night, Auckland Arts Festival (2011); Skins, Outdoor Billboard Project, Auckland (2009); Bridge Art Fair, Berlin, Germany (2008); Portraiture from the Christchurch Art Gallery Collection, Christchurch Art Gallery (2004); Not by Subject, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui (2000); Taranaki Photographers, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth (1995); The Chair Show, C.S.A. Gallery, Christchurch (1991); From Today Painting is Dead, National Art Gallery, Wellington (1990); Our Culture My Nature/About Time, New Zealand Centre for Photography, Wellington and Artspace, Auckland, Contemporary New Zealand Photographers, Fisher Gallery, Auckland (1989); Art Quest 88, Los Angeles Fine Art Gallery; Philadelphia Beaver College Art Gallery; Long Island University; Hillwood Art Gallery, New York, USA (1988); Kevin Capon Portraits 1984-85, Dunedin Public Art Gallery (1988) and Dowse Art Gallery, Wellington (1986); The Figure Fragmented, National Art Gallery, Wellington (1986). His work is held in public collections in New Zealand including; Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu, Dowse Art Gallery, Wellington, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, New Zealand and in private collections in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Germany. Contact Kevin Capon: kevin@capon.co.nz PO Box 8 Mokau, North Taranaki 4350, New Zealand. .
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