Photography

Karekare Beach

<h1>'Pterodactyl' </h1>
This piece was filmed at a really special place, on the west coast of New Zealand called Karekare Beach in the Waitakere ranges. It's one of those magical places with an immensely powerful energy that channels down the windswept valley from the hills to the sea through sandunes and rocky outcrops to meet a churning ocean that has pounded these shores since time immemorial. 
The landscape is rugged and raw and you feel like you've stepped back into prehistoric times where Pterodactyls once roamed the skies.As a young man Karekare was my escape from the city and the pressures of becoming an adult. We surfed there, we spent nights amongst the sand dunes discovering ourselves. The salt and sea air would always send me back to the world refreshed and empowered, reconnected with a vital perspective of my place on this strange rock we call home.

<h1>Location</h1>
Karekare is also well known for the opening scene to an incredible film called The Piano by Jane Campion which won a young Anna Paquin an Oscar at 11 years old. Set mid 19tt century the film sees the girl and her mother dumped on the beach from a ship with nothing more than their trunk of belongings and a huge Piano to begin their life in the 'new world'. That opening scene and many elements of that film truly capture that raw nature of the New Zealand west coast and native bush.

THE PIANO - Official 25th Anniversary Trailer - Directed by Jane Campion

I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for about 6 years from 1999 and after moving back to New Zealand I often missed living amongst the history of old streets and the stories that came with them (there's some great stories if your into ghosts like me!). 
But I then realized that history in New Zealand is also in the land itself… the 'New World' is in fact the 'Untouched World' and the stories are written in the landscape. With some imagination and research you can read between the lines and the ghosts of the past can be seen!

<h1>Capture &amp; Edits</h1>
‘Pterodactyl’ was originally shot a few years ago during a photowalk I hosted for a whole bunch of Auckland photographers. I used to co-ordinate and host official Instagram 'World Wide Insta Meets' (WWIM) after the Instagram team featured my cinemagraphs and interviewed me for their blog back in 2016. 
The original shot for 'Pterodactyl' actually shows a bunch of photographers sitting on top of the hill but coming into the NFT space has liberated me to bring both edits and conceptual elements into my work that I hadn't done before and want to further pursue.

Inspired by the prehistoric raw energy of Karekare I edited in a subtle figure of a Pterodactyl perched on the hill along with an old stripped down tree (taken from one of my still photos - which ironically in real life actually sits half way up an Auckland volcano called One Tree Hill). For me the tree suited the scene for a few reasons but mainly because I love the solitary presence of a tree that remains on a rocky outcrop… a survivor against the elements.

Magma makes every moment matter. Create digital, mini-magazines to share your life’s greatest experiences.

An artwork dialogue by motion artist @mrjonkane on ‘Pterodactyl’. — @undefined's mag on Magma

Personal

New Zealand

<h1>Background</h1>
I was always drawn to capturing life, even as a kid of the 80’s playing with my grandfathers Polaroid and cutting videos to VHS. It has remained a lifelong passion and I’m still that child at heart! 
I grew up surrounded by art. My mother was an incredible artist and around age 7 I would go to the art school with her… that is until I admitted to stealing $2 from a tip jar in the art school cafeteria and she made me go back to apologize, I don’t think I ever returned after that! I spent countless hours looking through her ArtNews magazines and peeking at the charcoal nudes she hid under the bed. We spent time at galleries and amongst her artist friends, from painters to potters and I would absorb myself in the stunning old black and white photos from my parents youth. It’s the photography that stuck with me.
I eventually went to art school but maybe it was the trauma of my early art school experience and I only lasted a few years. So began my travel and life adventures that lead me to where I am now some 25 years later. Art requires life experience and they can’t teach that. My career moved through web design, photographic restoration, to film and television and into business and brand management but it’s the photography that stuck.

<h1>My Work</h1>
I merge the timeless and collectible beauty of stills photography with the magic of motion pictures. Captured as pure lens based light and data, in high resolution 12bit cinemaDNG raw. I don’t animate still photos. I craft works of magical realism for digital art displays in a collectors home or commercial space or proudly held in an online wallet. 
Now minted as single or limited edition NFTs on the Blockchain, my work is growing in value not only for their timeless nature but as a future proof format. Motion art photography has an intrinsically collectible value and is being viewed by collectors as a diversified contrast to the 3D and graphical arts that are dominating the digital art market.
At the end of the day I’m obsessed with what I do, it is the culmination of everything I am and I believe intensely in the power of photography to connect us as humans on this strange rock we call home. 
-
View my Magma profile for more links to my work and follow me on Twitter &amp; Instagram. I’m all about building community and supporting other artists.