Daily Photo – The Viper’s Nest

It was just after 8:00pm on an early winter’s night and the street was quiet, slick after the evening rain. Somewhere down South Road, a muffled hum of tyres approached, rising like a tide and receding just as fast. The local shops lit in glowing pastel of blues and purples, like some kind of retreat in a sea of black. It was cold. Not quite bone-deep cold, but enough that you kept your hands in your pockets and your shoulders hunched against it.

In the dark, the streetlights stretch like starbursts, the reflections glinting off wet asphalt, and the long streaks of red and white from passing cars that blur time in a single frame. Earlier in the day, it hadn’t seemed like much, just another row of low shops, a street lined with parked cars and bins tucked against fences. But now, with the city mostly tucked in for the night, it had a kind of eerie beauty. The kind that only reveals itself when no one’s really looking.

I could’ve been home. Warm. Dry. Probably halfway through a movie and a cup of tea. Instead, I was crouched on a street corner in Dunedin, camera balanced, breath fogging, waiting for headlights to draw silver and gold lines across the road. Waiting for the shutter to catch the passing of time.

Daily Photo – Southern Lights

A few hours later I arrived in Dunedin. The sky had long since darkened, and the city lights shimmered in the night air. I pulled off near the Southern Motorway to photograph the ribbons of light that danced along the road with white and red streaks, the trails of headlights and taillights captured in a long exposure. The rush of cars passed unseen, but their presence painted the scene in motion and colour. The streetlamps hummed overhead, casting soft amber pools of light that barely cut through the encroaching night.

The chilly air clung to cheeks and hinted at a lazy morning frost soon to settle on the nearby rooftops and roads. It was the kind of night where your breath lingered in front of your face before disappearing into the dark. I stayed a little longer, letting the camera finish its work, and watched the city lights sparkle in the distance – Dunedin glowing quietly at the end of the road.

Daily Photo – This is NOM*d

While wandering the Dunedin Art Gallery, I stumbled upon an exhibition titled ‘this is NOM*d’, a local fashion label that’s apparently been shaping New Zealand style since 1986. Now I know almost nothing about fashion, both New Zealand’s or anyone else’s—and have even less fashion sense. But somehow, it was fascinating. Of course, I didn’t understand a single thing I was looking at, but I nodded anyway in a profoundly wise manner, as if I always appreciated layered dresses, bright coats and ribbed sleeves that look like they’ve been through a lawn mower.

Moray Place, Dunedin.

At this early hour, the city whispers in hushed tones. Silent echoes from forgotten doorways spill into the night and cast unfamiliar shadows across the pavement. In these sleepy streets, lost souls, taxis and garbage trucks are the only ones left to roam the unguarded city.

There’s something about this hour, small noises echo through the stillness of the night. In the absence of sound, everything becomes louder, strange and new. The unfamiliarity draws out misplaced memories from a forgotten past. They emerge in moments like this, when you least suspect. Walking ahead of you, impossible to follow yet impossible to ignore.

Memories are like reflections of our previous self. They aren’t always visible; some only exist in our unconscious mind.

Princes Street in Dunedin

The usual food caravan’s and coffee venders weren’t there.
Not today. Not when the wind is sharp and the rain is heavy. Nobody lingers on days like these. There’s somewhere else to be, somewhere sheltered, somewhere warm. On days like this, thoughts quickly get forgotten and washed away in the rain.

Dunedin does this. It turns on a heartbeat. The weather comes in quickly — like a thought you didn’t see coming. It starts with an insignificant puff of wind through the trees, an irrelevant rain drop on the footpath, or a bank of cloud appearing over the horizon that sets the scene for something wild and interesting to come. 

The thing is, you never know how long it’ll last. But, on days like this the rain will wash away your thoughts and reshape your view of tomorrow.

The gathering twilight above the Dunedin Law Courts 

A hushed calm took over the evening sky. As the sun dropped below the city skyline, a hypnotic dance of colour came forth, turning nearby buildings into silhouettes. Across the street, only the gothic style, Scottish baronial architecture was visible in the fading light. As I walked, the evening traffic navigated their way through the city streets as day transitioned into night. In the absences of the city street lights that were yet to take hold, shadows took hold as the evening hues started to fade from sight, giving way to the imminent night.

Dawn on Tomahawk Road

There’s a moment in the early hours of the day, that is quite delightful. It’s before the sunrises and light floods the sky in the hour before dawn. As the darkness of night lifts and surrounding objects start to take shape, when the blue hour takes hold, a silent hush fills the new day. It’s quite a magical time in a nothing much is happening sort of way.

Street Art by @hugovandorsser and Screaming Rooster Studio

For something different I wanted to see if I could capture a long exposure image during the day time. I made my way down to Vogel Street here in Dunedin and set up my gear under the overbridge that runs through former Jetty Street. Under the bridge, a painting which is part of the Dunedin Street Art trail by @hugovandorsser and Screaming Rooster Studio made a good backdrop as I waited for slow moving cars to pass by.

Spider web with raindrops at Ross Creek

The other week when we had all that rain, I went out in search of photos involving water. However, instead of walking the streets of South Dunedin and photographing houses that were flooding, I headed for some of the Dunedin bushwalks. One of those that I spent some time in was in and around Ross Creek from the Leith Valley entrance. In this area of the bush several small rivers run through the valley before connecting up with the Waters of Leith. I arrived to find the usually sedate stream had become inundated with water after nearly three days of heavy rain. It was while I was photographing one of the many bends and drops in the stream that I noticed a nearby spider web that was catching some of the rain drops that were falling through the canopy.

Portobello Post Office

I went for a drive on the Otago Peninsula, looking for boats. Dinghies to be exact. I had an idea for an image that involved an old dinghy gently drifting on the tide. However, I quickly came across two problems. Firstly, it was far too windy for anything to be simply ‘drifting’ and secondly, I couldn’t find a dingy. So, to overcome these problems I stopped in the peninsula settlement of Portobello and photographed the former post office and general store building instead. If I’m being honest, I’m not entirely convinced it’s not a private residence, meaning I was photographing someone’s home! But, since the original building dates back to at least 1867, I’d like to think the owners would be lenient.

The Railway Central Terminus Hotel

The next day the clouds had rolled in, the temperature had dropped and heavy rain had lashed the city from sometime the previous evening. I spent a lazy day hunkering inside where it was warm, however by mid afternoon I was ready for some fresh air. With the rain showing no sign of easing, I tucked myself into a jacket and headed out into the city streets looking for puddles. Upon arriving at Queens Gardens, I spotted the former “Railway Central Terminus Hotel” reflecting in a rather large puddle near a set of traffic lights on Cumberland Street. Built in 1880 and described at the time as a conspicuous object that was considered an important addition to the city’s hotel accommodation, it was recently redeveloped into New York style apartments. Now, the building is considered an important part of the city’s warehouse precinct.