New Zealand: Christchurch Art Gallery in glass & light
The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu is a location I’d wanted to visit, after reading about the building and its art collection.
The 22 February 2011 earthquake was one of four major tremors (each at least magnitude 6) to strike the coastal Canterbury region within a span of 14 months. The cost to human lives and infrastructure was extensive. After the 22 February 2011 earthquake, the Art Gallery building was used as the central staging point for emergency and recovery operations. Suffering minor structural damage, the Art Gallery is closed for repairs until sometime in 2013.
In July 2012, I traveled by ferry and train from Wellington to Christchurch to begin my time on the South Island. I made my way to the Art Gallery, and sure enough, the place was closed. Fortunately, the building is outside of the cordoned no-go red zone.
The building is a beautiful sweeping glass structure with elegance, clear light, and curves. I took the opportunity to photograph the building in afternoon light as well as sunset’s light, and it’s easy to see why the Art Gallery is now one of the most recognized buildings in the city.
It’s important that a key building remains standing and visible, and continues to provide an vibrant artistic and cultural venue for the city of Christchurch.
“Aibohphobia”, by Julia Morison (2011). Aibohphobia is the fear of palindromes.
I have my own reasons for voyaging
Front-lit silhouettes and reasons
Sunset light
Sunset sparkle
I made the photos on 15 and 17 July 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-29f.
Fotoeins Fotografie 
7 Responses to “New Zealand: Christchurch Art Gallery in glass & light”
Great photos Henry!!! Love the angles at which you have taken them!!!! Almost abstract!! 🙂 **
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Hi, Xandré. The building offers those angles, and one can’t help but photograph the building – it was relatively “easy” to do so! 🙂 Thanks for reading and for your comment! 🙂
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