I recently had some of my art work published as a cover for Paperboy a new publication which is free and an Auckland weekly magazine, the magazine will be focused on showing readers the best of Auckland in terms of food, style, culture and urbanism, and will also contain a couple of features in each issue. You can read more about it here.
http://www.bauermedia.co.nz/brands/paperboy/
Many thanks: Jeremy Hansen and Kate Richards
I'm part of a group exhibition at the Auckland Museum - Volume: Making Music in Aotearoa with this image of Lorde and Joel Little in their studio Auckland NZ, a landmark homegrown exhibition on New Zealand music will open at Auckland War Memorial Museum on October 28.
A partnership with the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame, Volume is the first major exhibition to tell the story of popular music in Aotearoa.
From Pokarekare ana to Poi e, from Loyal to Royals, from dance halls to DJs and from vinyl to mp3s and back again, Volume will take visitors on a musical journey through the decades from the 1950s to today.
Music lovers will get to roll up their sleeves and experience how music has been made, heard, and performed over the past 60 years in a ‘hands on, ears on’ exhibition, exploring the rich diversity and unique sounds that come from our place at the southern edge of the Pacific Ocean.
Visitors will be able to step into a recording studio and get behind the mixing desk, become a DJ and blend music and video, browse records in a 1980s record store, learn how to play the opening riff of an iconic Kiwi song, or step back in time and on to the set of C'mon in the 1960s.
Drawn from the personal collections of many of our most well-known musicians, Volume will feature costumes, awards, hand-written lyrics, instruments, memorabilia, and hundreds of images that showcase the music that provides the soundtrack to our lives.
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/whats-on/exhibitions/volume-making-music-in-aotearoa
Earlier this week photographer and longtime French Revolver collaborator Spid Pye won Photographer of the Year at Industry NZ, for his work with our very own Chris King on his submission A Balance of Black & White.
Read our ten question Q&A with Spid about the project, how he got into photography and his dream person to photograph.
1. Congratulations on winning Photographer of the Year at Industry NZ. That's awesome! Why do you think your images of Chris' styling resonated well with judges?
I think because it was a different visual concept, something unexpected and there was a story/concept behind the images.
2. How did you guys come up with the concept / idea behind it?
Chris mentioned Lee Jeffries with his cool street people work and the idea was born. I was thinking shooting of street people in their environment with cool cuts, so we ended up halfway between with some stylish guys and homeless people.
3. How did you come into contact with the French Revolver crew? What else have you guys done together?
Chris and I have been working together for about 15 years on and off, I sometimes shoot his shit and he sometimes styles some of my shit.
4. How did you get into photography and make a start in your career?
I was passionate about photography and use to be a sparky, I bought a camera with my first pay cheque and things progressed from there. After I finished my apprenticeship I went to art school in London.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Recently I collaborated with French Revolver Studio to produce two pieces of content for their show.
These consisted of two videos projected onto walls within the Britomart Country Club in the Auckland CBD where the event was held.
The concept for the first video was water, which we linked back to the street posters which I shot various dancers preforming in an environment which resembled water. The projection also created movement and light on the dancers during the show further enhancing the concept. The final video was much more urban and provided a gritty backdrop to the final stages of the performances. You can see both videos here.
Credits:
Director: Spid
DOP: Spid
Editor: Dan Martin @ Deliverance
Studio: White
Music: Chris King
Assistant: Melissa West
French Revolver Studio commissioned me recently to collaborate on a project to showcase a night of art, dance and fashion. The idea was to create a series of unusual images to cut through the clutter of street posters and grab consumers attention. We had an idea of shooting dancers in a swimming pool, clearly with the elaborate and detailed hair styles we needed to create a solution that gave that feeling. The project involved collaboration between photographer, choreographer, hair stylist, make up artists and dancers to bring the images to life. The images were retouched by Stephanie O'Connor. I'm currently working on phase 2 of the project and that is creating a series of videos to be shown at the launch party.
Credits:
Photographer: Spid
Art Director: Karen Reiss King
Choreographer: Emma McLachlan
Hair Stylists: French Revolver Studio - Brad Lepper, Chris King, Jordan Camiller
Make Up Artist: Lisette Cross
Dancers: Diamond Entertainment
Photographers Assistant: Jessica Getmat
Retoucher: Stephanie O'Connor
Auckland advertising photographer Spid was recently approached by Ogilvy's Darran WongKam to produce a memorable campaign for the upcoming Auckland Council local body elections. The basic concept centres around the idea that people who don't vote are metaphorically invisible, because their views will not be taken into account during the democratic process.
To express this idea visually the subject of each campaign image was photographed twice - once as a clearly visible person, and then again as a body painted person who is difficult to distinguish from the background. Recognising that executing this brief would involve the merging of two different creative mediums (photography and body art), Spid approached Yolanda Bartram from Bodyfx, and together they set about creating the desired result.
The biggest challenge of the shoot was the 6-7 hour delay between shooting the first "Vote" execution and the second "Don't" execution. Extensive research and testing by a very committed crew was required to resolve this particular issue. And although utilising digital post-production techniques might have been an easier option, creating the see-through person effect in camera gives the campaign a sense of authenticity that engages the viewer and helps drive home the call to action.
Photographer: Spid
Agent/Producer: Jason Jones @ The Collective Force
Body Artist: Yolanda Bartram @ Bodyfx
Stylist: Greta van der Star
Hair & Make-up: Anna Hewlett
Photo Assistant: Marique Knight
Client: Auckland Council
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Creatives: Darran WongKam, Matt Simpkins
Here's a fun project we produced for TAB Multi Bet and Sugar, where the brief was to shoot a bunch of different sports men and women for a TV spot and stills campaign. The head, body and legs were mixed up from different codes creating an interesting combination of codes.
Photographer: Spid
Agent: The Collective Force
Producer: Jessica Hogan
Agency: Sugar
Creatives: Genevieve Chunn, Daniel Nelson
Account Manager: Campbell McLean
Assistant: Dani Hochuli
Stylist: Lucy Mclay
Make Up: Anna Hewlett
