A superb photography display

Stephen A’Court was kind enough to invite me to have a look at his latest photographic display, which is on at the Toi Poneke Gallery, 61 Abel Smith Street, Wellington.

I went along with Sports Girl, and was blown away by the photos. The gulf between photos that amateurs do, and these photos is just huge.

The collection of 21 photos are of graduates of Toi Whakaari, the NZ Drama School. They are of actors, actresses, directors, producers, technical crew etc – some very famous, some less so.

This is one of Stephen’s photos, of actress Brooke Williams, who people may recognise from Outraegous Fortune and The Almight Johnsons. It’s taken on the steps backstage at Downstage. This was my second favourite photo because it captures Williams’ almost doll-like beauty so well.

My favourite photo was actually of Ruth Pretty (yes she is a graduate of Toi Whakaari) in her living room. I didn’t blog that photo because to be honest you couldn’t do it justice with a screen resolution and size. The colour is so perfect in her photo, you really need to see it for yourself.

Stephen has done a wonderful tribute to the theatre and film world. He grew up amongst theatre people – his grandmother was an operatic-style singer and his sister is the well known actress and comedian, Michelle A’Court. He also photography for many of the plays put on in Wellington.

If you have a spare hour in Wellington, and you appreciate great photography, I absolutely recommend you pop in and see the exhibition on Abel Smith Street. The photos are great, and the potted backgrounds of each person profiled were also very interesting.

You can see some of the photos at Stephen’s website, but trust me its not the same as seeing the original prints.