DOC ROSS

 

Like many artists in Christchurch at this time I am making work relating to the recent earthquakes we have been experiencing.

I am working with writer Andrew Wood to create an exhibition and book about the new urban and social environment our city is now faced with. If you live in Christchurch and have been effected by the quakes, perhaps your home is to be demolished or is seriously damaged, or maybe you have lost your business, and you think you might be interested in participating in this project please contact me. Participation could mean being photographed personally or just your property being photographed.

 

'Remembrance'

 

I am also currently working on a series of portraits of earthquake effected people for a book that will include their personal descriptions of the moment of the earthquake. Below is my friend Tony Bridge

 

 

 

 

I am also continuing working with artworks or art environments as a subject matter in themeselves, as with the Ron Mueck images.

I find this, and especially the Ron Mueck sculptures, which I have made a few works from, interesting considering the ongoing and escalating issue around intellectual and personal property rights. I am very interested in how some artists are happy to see their work used as part or sole subject in another artwork such as these, while others consider works like this as being a breach of their intellectual property rights.

 

 

'Ron Mueck in my kitchenn'

'Darwin'

'COCA'

 

 

I am also continuing to make tea toned silver gelatin prints of utilitarian objects and the urban environment.


This series of work started some time ago when I discovered the simple beauty of man made objects such as power poles and phone lines in urban environments like supermarket car parks, a place one doesn’t often look for or see beauty. I decided to make these works in a romantic pictorialist style to emphasize this beauty, but also to reference the history of the medium. The photo secessionist’s of the early 1900’s responded to the literal matter of fact purist photography of their time by making their pictures more painterly and “art-like” than the purists with their crisp clear descriptive images. The techniques I have used in these works are similar to those that the secessionist’s would have utilized.


The Silver gelatin printing process utilized in these works is now considered by many institutions as being an historic one, even though the materials are still readily available, albeit getting incredibly expensive. The onset and rapid developments of digital technology and inkjet printing has enticed most photographers away from this and other historic analogue printing processes. Sadly now many people have no idea what hand printed photograph looks or feels like, and therefore also have little understanding of what makes them so special. Part of their beauty is in the marks and imperfections evident of a hand made object.