Dunedin, Ōtepoti, The Art of John Caswell

The Tucker Box

1 Comment

Here’s a quick selection of images I’ve taken at the beach over the years.

Daily Photo

The Tucker Box– Buy 

It occurred to me the other day that I might have drifted off topic a bit on my blog. My intention had been to photograph, write and blog my way around my own backyard and beyond, by chronicling my trips through words and pictures. To get back on track, I  began to make plans for all the trips I could take in the upcoming weeks and months but it became too big and complicated. Then, a voice in my head said, ‘heck John, go for a walk on the Wharf!’ So that’s what I did.

Dunedin, Ōtepoti, The Art of John Caswell

Alleyway On Musselburgh Rise

1 Comment

Alleyway On Musselburgh – Buy 

This is the last image in a series I completed based on a section of the Dunedin street, Musselburgh Rise. Recently, I’ve been thinking more about images in series. I like the idea of creating artwork in series as it allows me to explore a particular theme or subject matter in greater detail. In this case I wanted to focus on an ordinary, suburban street and photograph it at night for a different feel.

Central Otago, Ida Valley, Ōtepoti, The Art of John Caswell

McNally Road In The Ida Valley

1 Comment

Uncertain Journey's Have Been A Long Time Coming.McNally Road in the Ida Valley – Buy 

I had the bones of this photo sitting for a while before I eventually finished it. The idea of crossroads is a wonderful metaphor for so many ideas and themes. I particularly like the idea of a tarseal road crossing beyond the edge of the frame, while an alternative gravel road stretches off in the distance. It also has the added human elements of power poles, a giveaway sign, far off farm sheds and two hawks circling above on a summer afternoon in late December.

Gimmerburn, Maniototo, The Art of John Caswell, Travel, Waipiata

Chimney Stack On The Maniototo

1 Comment

Chimney stack on the Maniototo– Buy 

In places like the Ida Valley, Blackstone Hill, Kyeburn, Patearoa and near the Rock and Pillar there are old structures scattered all around the place. They are like a window into the past that tell stories of human existence, past lives and hint at a sense of belonging in a timeless place.

Looking over the land, I like the questions those old structures ask and how they hint towards a forgotten human presence. Here, a crumbling chimney stack sits in a dry and sunburned field,  just beyond a small pond in the wide open spaces of The Maniototo.

The Art of John Caswell

Warauwerawera #toru

1 Comment

Warauwerawera #toru

Recently I did three things. First, spend less time on social media. Second, read a few books. Third, went for a few walks.

The first book I pulled off the shelf was ‘The Dark Is Light Enough by Vincent O’Sullivan, a biographical portrait Ralph Hotere. The second was Victory Over Death: The Art of Colin McCahon by Rex Butler and Laurence Simmons. Once I’d finished these books, it led me to visiting places like the Hōtere Garden Oputae in Port Chalmers and Long Beach near Purakanui. Rather than simply photograph what was in front of me, I wanted to create a response to what I saw. What I wanted was to create an artwork that was a response to my time in a time and place. So, I asked myself, did I have anything to say and what was it?

Today: Warauwerawera #toru

The Art of John Caswell

Warauwerawera #rua

1 Comment

Warauwerawera #rua

Recently I did three things. First, spend less time on social media. Second, read a few books. Third, went for a few walks.

The first book I pulled off the shelf was ‘The Dark Is Light Enough by Vincent O’Sullivan, a biographical portrait Ralph Hotere. The second was Victory Over Death: The Art of Colin McCahon by Rex Butler and Laurence Simmons. Once I’d finished these books, it led me to visiting places like the Hōtere Garden Oputae in Port Chalmers and Long Beach near Purakanui. Rather than simply photograph what was in front of me, I wanted to create a response to what I saw. What I wanted was to create an artwork that was a response to my time in a time and place. So, I asked myself, did I have anything to say and what was it?

Today: Warauwerawera #rua

The Art of John Caswell

Warauwerawera #tahi

1 Comment

Warauwerawera #tahi

Recently I did three things. First, spend less time on social media. Second, read a few books. Third, went for a few walks.

The first book I pulled off the shelf was ‘The Dark Is Light Enough by Vincent O’Sullivan, a biographical portrait Ralph Hotere. The second was Victory Over Death: The Art of Colin McCahon by Rex Butler and Laurence Simmons. Once I’d finished these books, it led me to visiting places like the Hōtere Garden Oputae in Port Chalmers and Long Beach near Purakanui. Rather than simply photograph what was in front of me, I wanted to create a response to what I saw. What I wanted was to create an artwork that was a response to my time in a time and place. So, I asked myself, did I have anything to say and what was it?

Today: Warauwerawera #tahi

Seasons - Autumn in a Small City, The Art of John Caswell

He kOTuku rEREnga tahi

1 Comment

 He kOTuku rEREnga tahi

When it comes to Social Media, I’ve recently found myself in a rather negative space. To be clear, I don’t mean fits of depression, self-loathing or acts of self-harm. I simply mean feeling robotic, less human if you will. I had this realization about a month back when I found myself scrolling through the mountains of posts that were appearing on my Facebook and Instagram feeds.

You see, I’ve long been a person where any spare minute of the day was spent making patterns out of clouds, watching the way shadows form around objects, making patterns out of coins on a table or just sitting and watching life! However, recently I found myself scrolling. Scrolling, scrolling and scrolling for no reason. I knew serious action was needed when I found myself reading memes! I’ve never read memes, I don’t like them. But, it was in a moment of reading a meme when I realised I’d lost touch with my creative instincts. Action was needed!! So, I did three things. First, spend less time on social media. Second, read a few books. Third, go for a few walks.

The first book I pulled off the shelf was ‘The Dark Is Light Enough by Vincent O’Sullivan, a biographical portrait. The second was Victory Over Death: The Art of Colin McCahon by Rex Butler and Laurence Simmons. Once I’d finished these books, it led me to visiting the Hōtere Garden Oputae in Port Chalmers, which in turn led me to wanting to create a response to what I saw. What I didn’t want to do was simply photograph the garden, what I wanted was to create an artwork that was a response to my time in the garden. Upon leaving, I asked myself, did I have anything to say and what was it?The resulting image/s (which turned into an unlinked series) I hummed and harred a lot over posting. They are probably the most personal things I’ve ever done. So, with a touch of nervousness and a lot of honesty today on my blog I present an art work I call:

He kOTuku rEREnga tahi

The Art of John Caswell

Fairlie-Tekapo Road

1 Comment
State Highway 8, Burkes Pass, 2021

I wanted to create an image where the eye moved across it in one single and deliberate direction. My first thought was of the fence line and the different wires and textures that ran across the scene. The closer I looked the more I noticed how they seemed to break the foreground up into tiny sections, each with their own unique characteristic.

From there I wanted the eye to slowly move up the image having to refocus and adjust on what was there until they reached the top. It’s an image where I wanted to encourage the viewer to have a long stare and ask their own questions about the different textures and shape formations they could see.

The Experience Of Seeing
#theexperienceofseeing  #johncaswellnz #fineartphotography #artphotography

The Art of John Caswell

Three Creeks

1 Comment
Three Creeks, Burkes Pass, 2021

I saw all these selves and displays lined with antique car and sign memorabilia. They had been quite deliberately organised and setout. So when I looked at what was on display my eye travelled along the shelf, focusing on different objects and thinking how all the items were related. So, I wanted to take a photo that what’s just like what I was seeing.

The Experience Of Seeing
#theexperienceofseeing  #johncaswellnz #fineartphotography #artphotography

The Art of John Caswell

Black & Brew

1 Comment
Black and Brew, Dunedin, 2021

Morning – Coffee – Takeaway Cup – Park – Steam – Fog – Window – Order – Chat – Window – Cactus – Green – Lettering – Black Lettering – Cactus Angle – Window Frame Angle – Lettering – Contrast – Steam – Visibility – No Visibility – Coffee Ready – Shoot – Chat – Collect – Go.

The Experience Of Seeing
#theexperienceofseeing #lovindunners #majesticdunedin #johncaswellnz #fineartphotography #artphotography

The Art of John Caswell

Kitchener Street

1 Comment
Kitchener Street, Dunedin, 2021

The other day I showed this image to someone and they thought I’d lost my mind. I think their words were something like ‘that’s one of the worst photos I’ve seen you take!’

I then explained that it’s a photo about thinking. During the Level 4 Lockdown I would go out walking in the afternoons, generally in the same place but sometimes my routes would vary. On these walks one thing I noticed was the lack of rubbish and it really stuck with me how much cleaner the world seemed. When we moved down to Level 3, I continued my walks when one day I came across a recently discarded McDonalds Cup lying in the grass. I realised how long it had been since I’d seen litter and how ironic it seemed that it was from a recently opened fast food outlet. 

As I wanted to create a photo that reflected my thinking and asked the questions I had, the only way I could do this was to create a photo that reflected these thoughts and questions.

The Experience Of Seeing
#theexperienceofseeing #lovindunners #majesticdunedin #johncaswellnz #fineartphotography #artphotography

The Art of John Caswell

The Experience Of Seeing

1 Comment
Silverton Street, Dunedin, 2021

Recently, I’ve found myself thinking much more about the structure of a photograph than I used to. Instead of following themes and ideas based around capturing scenes when the light was doing something interesting over a dramatic landscape, I find myself more interested in seeing beauty in everyday objects and creating photographs that ask and answer the questions I have. This train of thought isn’t something new, nor a sudden epiphany but a sudden slow growth of thought that has grown over time.

I began becoming more aware of the space and shape between objects in a photograph some time ago. It was born out of a desire to think about my photographs in a new way, partially out of questions I had about what I was seeing and partially out of wanting to view something differently.

I had been looking at the vernacular uses of photography from the 1960’s and 1970’s and there was something in what I saw that simply made sense. I’ve found that by thinking and looking in terms of snapshots capturing everyday life and subjects that I’ve become much more conscious about the experience of seeing.

Take this photograph I took this afternoon. While some might view this as very boring, personally I found it very interesting the way all the lines, shapes and spaces interconnected with each other and the resulting patterns they made. So, I went about taking a photograph the way I was thinking and seeing.

That’s what I’m thinking about with photography at the moment, The Experience Of Seeing
#theexperienceofseeing #lovindunners #majesticdunedin #johncaswellnz #fineartphotography #artphotography

The Art of John Caswell

South Dunedin Carpark

1 Comment

South Dunedin Carpark

This image is all about empty space and shapes. The theme of space and silence is one I keep coming back to time and again. Often I’m looking at empty space and silence out in the country however the recent Level 4 lockdown was a wonderful opportunity to explore the theme. I find it fascinating to see all the lines and shapes that can included into the frame when you remove human activity.

The Art of John Caswell

Southern Motorway

1 Comment

Southern Motorway

I’ve spent the last few days wandering aimlessly around some of Dunedin’s suburbs. I had stuck pretty close to home during the week and come Saturday morning I found myself in need of a decent stretch of the legs. So, the next few days were spent casually strolling through Dunedin streets with no real goal, no real purpose and no real direction apart from to make it back home again. 

I ambled down streets that were near empty and casually gazed into shop windows that were filled with novelty cups and t-shirts that were probably once a Christmas gift. There were restaurants, bookstores, furniture stores, car yards and bespoke gift shops, all of which were closed. I stopped outside a hairdresser and for a moment considered starting a new career as a hair model. I imagined myself on some far distant island, drenched in sunlight effortlessly flicking long locks of hair out of my eyes and over my shoulder like they do on the ads for one those TV programmes featuring celebrities I’ve never heard of. After a moment’s day dreaming I continued on my way occasionally stopping to photograph the empty roads, streets and avenues that I seemed to have all to myself.

The Art of John Caswell

Slowburn

1 Comment

I’ve been thinking about this scene for a while and quite deliberately I didn’t finish it until I was completely sure and satisfied with it. The composition came quite quick, what took me so long to workout was if the image was about the house or the letterbox and hedge. Then, suddenly I realised over the weekend when I went back and visited the image that it was really about the driveway and powerline.
@johncaswellnz #lovindunners #majesticdunedin #johncaswellnz