A lone tree in shallow water. A church among golden leaves. A waterfall stepping through a green forest. Antony Harrison’s photographs of New Zealand’s South Island have plenty of grand mountain scenery, but their appeal also comes from the smaller things that make a place memorable.
Harrison shared the original collection in July 2015, describing photographs made during a year travelling in New Zealand. The pictures belong to his experience. This selection follows the variety of that journey, from inland lakes to the coast.
Let the lake do something different in each frame
At Hooker Lake, the reflection doubles the mountain shapes and gives the whole scene a strong centre. The Glenorchy tree works almost the opposite way: one irregular shape holds your attention while the mountains recede behind it. In the Wānaka view, colour and silhouette become more important than fine detail.
Try comparing those three photographs before taking your own lake picture. Decide whether your subject is the reflection, a foreground feature or the changing light. A clear choice is often more useful than trying to include everything.
Make room for the places between the peaks
The Arrowtown church introduces a human scale, while Purakaunui Falls replaces the open horizon with a close woodland setting. The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo then brings building and landscape together. These changes give the gallery a rhythm that a sequence of mountain panoramas alone would miss.
For a travel album, collect a few transitions: a riverside stop, an old building or a detail from a walk. They can help you remember the day around the celebrated viewpoint.
Choose a region before drawing a route
These photographs span a large island and many separate outings. They are inspiration for choosing where to spend time, rather than a list to complete in one hurried circuit. Group the places that interest you geographically, then check current transport, access and weather information for that part of the trip.
For a different way of shaping a travel collection, explore Travis Burke’s van journey. For another mountain-and-lake setting, compare the landscapes around Waterton Lakes.
For a comparison with the North Island, explore five New Zealand landscapes across both main islands.
The original captions connect coast, towns and mountains
Harrison’s location list includes Glenorchy, Hooker Lake, Wānaka, Nugget Point, Hoopers Inlet, Lake Hayes, Queenstown and Arrowtown. It continues through Purakaunui Falls, Lake Te Anau, Lake Tekapo, Aoraki/Mount Cook, Punakaiki, Puponga and Ashburton. Those names preserve the breadth of a year’s work rather than compressing it into a handful of anonymous lake reflections.
Buildings belong in that range too. The Arrowtown church, Larnach Castle and the Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo show that the collection is not exclusively untouched mountain scenery. A pier, a church or a lakeside settlement can provide cultural and human scale within a landscape essay.
The original first-person judgement that New Zealand was the photographer’s favourite place should remain his opinion. The photographs explain that enthusiasm through particular subjects, but do not establish a universal ranking or a route that can be repeated in a few days. Using the captions to group places geographically is a more useful response: choose a region and give it time, rather than treating a year of selected moments as one short holiday itinerary.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- Bored Panda
- From Volcano Peaks to Endangered Kiwis in Diverse Tongariro Park, New Zealand
- A Lovely Retreat in the Unspoiled Nature in Blanket Bay, New Zealand
- New Zealand ''Vanscapes'' Framed Through The Window of a Van
- This 4K New Zealand Timelapse Transports You to Lord of the Rings Land
- New Zealand Company To Offer World’s First Hot Air Balloon Skiing
- Spectacular Footage Train Plowing Through Deep Snow in Arthur's Pass, New Zealand
- Antony Harrison
- Travis Burke’s van journey
- the landscapes around Waterton Lakes
- five New Zealand landscapes across both main islands
Awsome pictures and even more awsome place.
ReplyDelete