Death on show in photographer’s work
What part does a childhood in rural Waikato play in a leading New Zealand photographer’s work? Quite a lot, it turns out.
Photographer Neil Pardington has developed an open mind from his Waikato farming upbringing, allowing him to create his newest book, The Order of Things.
Pardington, whose latest collection is photographs of animal specimens in museum collections, says he got used to the sight of dead animals as a youngster on farms around Morrinsville.
“From a young age I watched sheep being slaughtered, so I knew where sheep meat came from,” said Pardington, who grew up around farms in Morrinsville.
He has also photographed at an abattoir. “[That] was more shocking than a couple of sheep being slaughtered on a farm. The thing that got to me about that shoot was the smell, it got into my head.”
The idea of photographing taxidermied animals comes from Pardington’s background working in museums such as the Whanganui gallery.
He started to see the collections in museums as being interesting architectural spaces, crammed fill of history, and worthy of a photo series.
Pardington acknowledges his work is a subject that engenders strong reactions. “It’s about life and death, we know the stakes could not be higher,” he says.
He describes his work as a metaphor; while they are not present in the image, traces of events and people remain.
Pardington spoke about his series at Wintec’s Spark festival in August 2016 and said he would soon be releasing an app of the work for mobile phones.
