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| Abbey Storey | |
| Matakana Pictures Exhibitions Artists |
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Show Number 9: 13.August - 9.October 2005 There are two reasons that I photograph; both equally valid and significant; intertwined with each other. One reason is because the beauty of a photographic image can arrest the thoughts and capture the imagination. I find the pure aesthetic pleasure to be gained from a well-executed print is unsurpassed. The other is the power of the photograph. Photography is an extremely strong medium for communication, which speaks to all regardless of ethnicity, gender or level of literacy. Photographic images have the power to communicate the things that are before our eyes, yet we fail to notice or acknowledge in our everyday lives. This is typified in my current ongoing project recording the lives of refugees living in Auckland; a series taken for various educational purposes and to increase the burgeoning awareness of the different cultures that live in New Zealand The featured series of photographs were taken at a high school concert for International Refugee Day 2004. The images themselves are captured seconds in time recording this multicultural grouping of refugee teenagers donning their different cultural costumes. What struck me about the process of photographing backstage was that this was a group of teenagers, nervous, gossiping, everyday teenagers, their costumes a source of pride and identity yet their individual personalities are what really shone through. In a time and land preoccupied with issues of identity and belonging it is not unusual to not fit in or to question where one fits in and in this instance costume becomes a big part of this. It is the lot of young first generation migrants to walk between the worlds of their two homes, old and new. They become kiwi kids yet they are something else as well; the culture of their homeland is transposed upon that of their day-to-day lives through family, traditions and memories. |
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Abby Storey 18. Young Cambodian peacock dancer |
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Abby Storey 19. Waiting |
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Abby Storey 20. Anticipation |
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Abby Storey 21. Getting dressed for the concert |
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Abby Storey 22. Patience |
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