1980's Christchurch

Delving through my old negatives I rediscovered these two old pics taken around 1981-2ish
Back then I was a commercial photographer in Christchurch with my dear friend Kevin Capon. We had a studio at the top of the Stewart Dawson Building on the corner of Cashel and High streets. We called our business 'Skylight Photography'. The reason for the name was the studio we rented was originally built for a photographer called Claude Ring around about the turn of the previous century. In those days there were no fancy flash set ups, basically all you had was the light from the sun. To get the most of this exquisite light 98% of the roof was glass. The light was beautiful, sadly it was also very very hot in the middle of summer. Because we were on the top floor we had access to the roof. The top pic is looking down High Street towards the Port Hills. The other is looking north west to the Cathedral.
I think most of the buildings shown have now ended up in rubble piles around the city, thanks to the earthquake that occurred 2 years ago on Feb 22.

Towel

As I lept from the shower the other morning, I gazed down and noticed the towel had morphed into what I think looks like a cow head. I've observed this sort of behavior before. There have been many times I swear I can see creatures or faces amongst the folds.  

Picnic

The urge to throw down a rug and eat outdoors is a strong and primal one. There is almost a feeling that your'e doing something a bit naughty. Now that the warmer weather has arrived the desire to eat outdoors becomes even more attractive. This pic was taken some time back in the mid 80's

Fish n chips

This greasy little collection of fried goodies was my first foray into the world of takeaways that was taken away from me after my Myocardal Infarction. Fried foods are sadly not too good for the heart. Rumour has it, it's not just the fat and salt. The actual act of frying at high temperatures changes the molecular structure of the food, which apparently can be harmful to the body. This is extremely sad because it tastes sooo good. Where and how the fish are harvested and masacred also concerns me.
In New Zealand we have a quota system that means a few big industrial companies own the rights to harvest thousands of tonnes of certain fish species. Anything else that strapped and killed in the massive nets must be dumped back into the ocean, along with this criminal waste of life, any of the target species that does not fit the automated filleting machines is dumped. 80-90% of the fish caught in New Zealand waters are exported to countries who have already fished their own oceans bare. We as a  country also import some of the same species we catch, Australia and Chile.

Spuds

Cleaned out the vege cupboard the other week and discovered these beauties writhing about.
How on earth does a spud that is locked away, in the dark, inside a continuously heated house know when to start sprouting? I will be liberating these Desiree's into the garden within a few days.

Hose

There's a hint of the worm in this pic. Is it going in or coming out? I'm also reminded of a Robert Mapplethorpe photo.

Worm

This juicy looking critter was unearthed in a patch of native trees I planted years ago. It was a lot firmer to the touch than one would care to imagine. I was a little unsettled. Again I relish these close encounters with our seldom seen fellow travelers.