John Ward Knox s Fathom on Fathom at Robert Heald Gallery.
Photography has a way of telling the truth more than most art forms. Yet it can equally deconstruct or offer one perspective in a moment in time. As an art form it can document reality and completely distort it. It communicates something taken from reality meshed with the photographer’s view and intention, and with that it documents a perspective of history. The arrival of photography to Aotearoa came with Te Tiriti o Waitangi around 1841. Storytelling and song were customary ways of documenting experiences that photographs couldn t replace, but over time these things became less prominent. And yet communication and language are often nonverbal. Sometimes a photograph responding to writing, song or language can add depth to both mediums.