Wellington [Moving Pictures Portfolio]
Peter Black, Artist
This is one of the
photographs
in our collection.
It was made in
Wellington, Wellington Region, New Zealand
in 1990.
About the Work
"Every
photograph
by
Peter
Black
reveals
a
drama.
Children
appear
trapped
in
cars—a
father
clasps
his
baby
beneath
a
toppling
statue
of
Lord
Plunket,
protector
of
little
children,
leaning
pensively
upon
an
up-ended
rifle—a
sinewy
old
man,
neck
almost
severed
by
one
of
those
power
lines,
seems
about
to
hurl
himself
off
a
railing
into
the
mist
beyond
a
hedge—another
ageing
man,
in
poor
shape,
plods
past
a
similar
railing,
one
hand
checking
the
vault
where
his
heart
depreciates—two
young
men,
one
with
a
shaven
head
and
the
other
heavily
tattooed,
seem
involved
in
a
stalking
melodrama—a
dyspeptic
man
with
his
jacket
over
one
arm
notices
that
he
is
being
observed,
and
his
hand
hastens
to
straighten
the
tie
he’s
already
removed.
And always, in these dramas, as they veer from fact toward rapture, as they disclose that other truth of fiction, Peter Black discovers fragments of language, markers, signs. They (the word ‘veges’ erected comically in a plantation) are almost the hallmark of his work—these wry, affectionate, offhand emblems of confusion. It’s not just that Black’s love of accident in photography throws out these chances. The word-fragments, road markers and the like are also evidence of his exceptional sharpness of observation—a way of looking that can seem tranced but which, in the course of its dreaming transport, will dart instantly in at the roadside sign reading 120 with an arrow: This way to everlasting life, or as near as you’re ever going to get to it; and the elderly man leaning against the indicator seems to be looking back the other way, perplexed and a bit sceptical, as though unconvinced by the admonition to go on getting older...There’s a narrative here all right, there’s even a hidden agenda, as these dramas slip one by one past your field of vision, as they slip into each other—each one marked by some small flicker of acute attention, each one folded into the ongoing rapture of transport."
- Ian Wedde, 'Moving Pictures', http://www.peterblackphotos.com/moving-pictures-essay.html
And always, in these dramas, as they veer from fact toward rapture, as they disclose that other truth of fiction, Peter Black discovers fragments of language, markers, signs. They (the word ‘veges’ erected comically in a plantation) are almost the hallmark of his work—these wry, affectionate, offhand emblems of confusion. It’s not just that Black’s love of accident in photography throws out these chances. The word-fragments, road markers and the like are also evidence of his exceptional sharpness of observation—a way of looking that can seem tranced but which, in the course of its dreaming transport, will dart instantly in at the roadside sign reading 120 with an arrow: This way to everlasting life, or as near as you’re ever going to get to it; and the elderly man leaning against the indicator seems to be looking back the other way, perplexed and a bit sceptical, as though unconvinced by the admonition to go on getting older...There’s a narrative here all right, there’s even a hidden agenda, as these dramas slip one by one past your field of vision, as they slip into each other—each one marked by some small flicker of acute attention, each one folded into the ongoing rapture of transport."
- Ian Wedde, 'Moving Pictures', http://www.peterblackphotos.com/moving-pictures-essay.html
This record represents a work in a portfolio and has related works.
Measurements
image: 142 x 212mm
Media
black and white gelatin print on paper
Description
Photograph taken through a window of a woman seated at a McDonalds restaurant table with her two children eating, the woman's head is in her hands.
Credit Line
Collection of the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui. Purchased, 1997
Collection Type
Permanent collection
Acquisition Date
1997