new photography book
by Mary Gaudin
I've followed Mary Gaudin's photographic work for a few years now and I continue to be always captivated by her eye and the stories that go along with her works. I was lucky and honored to have her do a guest post on You Have Been Here Sometime a year or so ago. Her post was about a modernist apartment she stayed in for the weekend. (Read her post here.. "It must have been a startling sight. This was postwar public housing. It was idealistic modernism...") A few years earlier, I interviewed Mary Gaudin about her "Lifebooks" (Read the interview here..). Her recent book, "Down the long driveway, you'll see it." is a continuation on these familiar themes of architecture, and how spaces affect our psyche. Homes and the stories that become them, and how they are reflected in the materials, the furnishings, and the age that happens as life goes on. Visit her website for more information here.. - David John
Down the long driveway, you'll see it.
"This is a book of pictures of modernist, mid-century New Zealand homes. The houses aren't new, they’re old and lived in. They can be a little dusty, slightly worn around the edges and all have what antique dealers like to call “patina”. But they’re perfect in the minds of the people who live in them because of what they represent, which when designed, was a better way of living.
The idea for the project wasn’t so much to document the houses in purely architectural terms, but to give an idea of the way these houses were and are lived in, as well as showing details of the designs and the materials used in their construction. The use of native timbers throughout these houses has given a unique feel to the interiors. In the Martin house, for example, John Scott used rimu for cupboard doors and matai, a wood which darkens with age, for the handles.
I also wanted to look at the way these houses fitted into their surroundings. All of the Wellington homes are connected to native bush, attracting tuis, fantails and bellbirds amongst other native birds. The owners of the Einhorn house, which backs onto the Karori bird sanctuary, sometimes see rare hihi feeding in their garden. The front of the Manning house is surrounded by an enormous pohutukawa tree which, from inside the house filters views out towards Auckland Harbour Bridge.
The title of the book comes from a phrase in an email from Bruce Martin giving directions to his home at Bridge Pa. Filled with a lifetime of pottery both from Bruce and Estelle’s work, together with gifts from potter friends, the Martin’s home highlights the particular mix of craftsmanship and design which is reminiscent of all the homes shown in this book."
Mary Gaudin is a New Zealand photographer living in Montpellier, France.
Photographs by Mary Gaudin Text by Matthew Arnold
go to Mary Gaudin's site here.
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