New light on old friends

PATRICK HAMILTON/Nelson Mail

A DIFFERENT LOOK: Glenn Bisdee with Lighthouse Alive, foreground, and other works in his new exhibition at Refinery Artspace.

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Glenn Bisdee has taken photos around the world but is now working on developing a reputation here in Nelson, helped in part by an unashamedly commercially-driven show. Tom Hunt reports.

The subjects Nelson photographer Glenn Bisdee chooses could easily be described as hackneyed, but his take on them is personal.

Bisdee is upfront about the fact that his exhibition of well-known Nelson landmarks is an unashamed push to sell, after his previous show at Refinery Artspace - looking at the grimier side of life - was well received but poor-selling.

"This exhibition is a little different. It focuses on the little slices from around Nelson that make up its beauty; it's about the stuff we take for granted living here all the time.

"And it's about the potential buyer, too. Last time I exhibited, I focused on drugs, alcohol, glue sniffers, skinheads and general violence. This, as you can imagine, made for great viewing but it's not something people want hanging in their living room forever.

"This time, I want images hanging in people's living rooms forever. Call me a sellout but, hey, you need to sell to survive."

The series of photographs started with a nighttime trip to the Boulder Bank lighthouse, using a studio flash light that went on to be used for other pictures in the exhibition.

With the help of his wife and mother-to-be Thalassa Kawachi, they climbed the stairs to the lantern room, installed the flash, then went back down and remotely operated it - projecting light from the lighthouse for the first time in years and capturing the light cast on the historic building and its surroundings.

From there, Bisdee formed the idea of looking at Nelson's early heritage, with a particular focus on the early settlers.

An old, dilapidated settler's shed was captured next, again through the unconventional use of the studio flash, starting a chain of photographs taken around areas such as Rocks Rd and Wakapuaka Estuary, as well as nautical elements of the city.

While the images are instantly recognisable, Bisdee's techniques - fish-eye lenses, studio lighting or interesting angles - offer a new take on what are stock images for Nelson photographers, professional and amateur.

For Bisdee and Kawachi - who are expecting their first baby on St Patrick's Day - it has been the end of a busy year.

Over winter he shot advertising for Cardrona skifield near Queenstown - "a fantastic winter spent on the back of skidoos and in helicopters" - and earlier this month he was contracted to shoot the John Mellencamp and Sheryl Crow concert at Mud House Winery, near Christchurch - although he had many of his photographs deleted by an over-eager security guard.

"It's a fantastic way to live - disruptive at times, but having travelled 30 countries these past few years, I seem never to tire of waking up in strange locations," he says.

"I like a lot of action, a lot of the time, planning, packing, travelling and telling a few war stories along the way."

With a baby on the way, Bisdee says he is trying to develop his reputation as a commercial photographer. More information is available at www.glennbisdeephotography.co.nz.

His exhibition at Refinery Artspace, 3 Halifax St runs until January 10.

- © Fairfax NZ News