| A visit to Paremata and Papakowhai |
[25 January 2008|11:14 pm] |
In one of my recent entries, I mentioned that I might have a little photographic style or at least tendency developing. I like to photograph supposedly mundane and everyday scenes to try to create an impression of what the place is like, to convey it to an outsider and to give some perspective on the ordinary stuff, as opposed to what's meant to be the "interesting" attractions that are normally photographed. So here's a collection from my trip to New Zealand taken around Paremata and Papakowhai, two suburbs about 25 minutes north of Wellington and 5 minutes out of Porirua, at the northern end of the Porirua Harbour's southern arm. I've tried to structure them as a walk from Paremata Railway Station deep into the heart of suburban Papakowhai. You'll notice that some are from different days and times, which I hope adds some more diversity and brings something extra to your perception of the place. I am not going to provide any captions or commentary; I'd like the pictures to stand for themselves without me pointing out details or attributes. I hope this works well. I'll also do this for my hometown in the coming days. I suppose I should point out before I go on that the correct pronunciation of Papakowhai is pretty much "pah-pah-ko-fai".
( Welcome to Paremata and Papakowhai. ) |
|
|
| Last Saturday's story and pictures |
[23 January 2008|11:47 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | kapiti coast, kapiti island, new zealand, new zealand trains, papakowhai, paraparaumu beach, paremata, photos, raumati beach, raumati south, trains | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | 'Kind Of A Blur' by Subterranean Masquerade | ] |
So, after my 21st birthday that I wrote about yesterday, I flew to New Zealand. Wellington, to be precise. It's always nice flying into Wellington. Well, I suppose it isn't always nice in terms of the ride you get, as the airport is right on the Cook Strait and the weather conditions there can often be unpredictable and unpleasant, but the day I flew in, it was absolutely gorgeous, and I mean it's always nice in that I'm coming home. Not a whole lot happened on the evening of the 18th. My father and I watched the Australia vs India cricket and had a barbecue for dinner. I was staying in Papakowhai, which is about 25 minutes north of Wellington, and it has great views over the Porirua Harbour's southern arm. So I took photos.
( Yeah, I really like the view. )
The next day, I had arranged to meet my Grandad and uncle Tony (one of my mother's younger brothers). Grandad was meeting us in Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, where I grew up; Tony was catching the train up from Wellington and I met him aboard the train at Paremata station, which is a short walk from Papakowhai. When the three of us went to lunch, we met up with my cousin Jeff, Grandad's nephew (though he was raised as Grandad's brother - it's a long story).
( Photos from Papakowhai and Paremata. )
( Photos from the Kapiti Coast. )
So after that, I returned to Dad's place and we had a birthday dinner - only a little one at home, as circumstances had conspired and nobody was really around. But afterwards we got out the 1987 wines that I wrote about earlier and watched Australia suck at cricket. That was all very, very good. Tomorrow, I will move on to the trip to Nelson.
While I was out and about on Saturday, I took a stack of photos of just ordinary scenes and streets in Paraparaumu Beach, Raumati Beach, Raumati South, Paremata, and Papakowhai. If I could say I have a photographic style developing - and I'm not sure that I do - it's that I prefer to take pictures simply of the mundane and everyday stuff. I often find it's actually more interesting than what are supposedly the interesting attractions you're "meant" to photograph. Certainly when I look at photos from Wellington in 1900, I'm most interested in the "everyday" shots, just to see how things have changed. I also think these "everyday" shots give an outside viewer a good sense of what the place really feels like, as opposed to the false impression that might be created simply by photos of "interesting" attractions. My photographic abilities may be appallingly lacking - but then again, it gives the amateur and everyday perspective both in terms of what's seen in the shot and how the shot is taken itself.
Or maybe I'm just trying to justify the fact I'm a shit photographer who's a bit too camera-happy and finds boring old towns and geography fascinating. I'll share the photos in the coming days and you can be the judge. |
|
|