Taranaki from Lepperton, Taranaki, 20 May 2010
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Laurence Aberhart
b.1949
Title
Taranaki from Lepperton, Taranaki, 20 May 2010
Details
| Production Date | 2010 |
|---|---|
| Collection(s) | Collection Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth. Acquired with assistance from the Lysaght-Watt Trust through the Govett-Brewster Foundation. |
| Accession Number | 2012/2 |
| Media | Silver gelatin print; gold and selenium toned |
| Measurements | Support: 227 x 278mm |
About
Amongst Laurence Aberhart’s suite of thirty photographs commissioned by the Govett-Brewster in 2009–2010, Taranaki from Lepperton, Taranaki, 20 May 2010 feels unique—the subject is not clearly apparent. The mountain is invoked by the title, as he is in many of these works, but is a distant presence in the image, framed between the trunks of two bleak trees. The trees, three in total, somewhat dominate the image, but are interrupted by a traffic mirror. The interjection of the mirror, circular, or rather elliptical (viewed at an angle), denies the otherwise strong horizontal composition of the image, introducing an abnormality. The convex surface of the mirror stirs things up further adding an image within the image, a distorted view of the landscape behind the camera. There is a suggestion of movement as the resolute fidelity of Aberhart’s vision is briefly interrupted by the vague and uncertain world reflected in the mirror.
— Excerpt, Paul Brobbel, ‘Like Skeletons Betwixt: The Melancholy and the Surreal in the Photography of Laurence Aberhart,’ in Laurence Aberhart: Recent Taranaki Photographs, 2012. Adapted for Collection Online 2023.
