Lennart Maschmeyer - 10.98 Seconds Of Wellington Artists
Following the efforts of German-born photographer Lennart Maschmeyer over the last couple of years to capture a portrait of Wellington's vibrant and varied art scene, the fruits of his labour of love are now featured for posterity in a coffee table photo book titled 10.98 Seconds of Wellington Artists. The result is a valuable and enjoyable documentation of the artists - including many notable musicians - making up the community which contributes so much to the capital and, indeed, New Zealand as a whole.
10.98 Seconds of Wellington Artists is so-named specifically because the photographs in the book capture that amount of time. Maschmeyer is interested in how a series of fractions of a second can tell us so much about a person, an activity or an emotion. He therefore intends the book to serve as an example of this pleasant effect - and that is certainly achieved, with the viewer of his book feeling that bit closer to the artists featured.
Tim Prebble (sound director), Ryan Prebble (musician) and Lee Prebble (producer and engineer) make up the first 0.34 seconds of moments included in the book. The pages are strikingly laid out. Whilst some photos have a page dedicated to them, other candid moments - particularly those captured in quick succession - are positioned in a strip, with the first example of this being in Ryan Prebble's stunning portraits. Many are accompanied by brief-yet-impactful comments from fellow artists, giving a warm background to the character of those portrayed in the photos.
A bit further into 10.98 Seconds of Wellington Artists we are treated to amazing images of James Coyle, keyboard player from Jessie James And The Outlaws, accompanied by a comment from Samuel Flynn Scott (The Phoenix Foundation) that he "first made music with him at this ramshackle Bob Dylan tribute gig", whilst Justin 'Firefly' Clarke recounts "First time I met him I picked him up while he was hitch-hiking and we started cracking plans immediately". Such quotes as these feel like they give the audience almost as much of a glimpse into the artist in question as the pictures do, and they're a very welcome element in the book.
Our much-respected Little Bushman are given a good amount of space - with Warren Maxwell, Rick Cranson, Tom Callwood (also of The Phoenix Foundation) and Joe Callwood (Syzygy, Paddy Burgin & The Wooden Box Band) all undergoing exposure in the lens. Samuel Flynn Scott, Jess Chambers, Lukasz Buda, T. C. Wedde, Hannah Howes, Jessie Moss and Mara TK are also devoted some 'time', along with a wide range of other musical, visual, literary and conceptual artists. It really does give us a tasteful glimpse into the artistic process - whilst not being intrusive, each shot serves its purpose of telling us something new about an artist or of their involvement in a creative or emotional activity.
10.98 Seconds of Wellington Artists is Lennart Maschmeyer's first book - but the reason his photographic work has already been exhibited and published in Germany, Austria and China, as well as here in New Zealand, is clearly identified by this treasure. Maschmeyer may have only relocated to Wellington from Germany in 2007, but this great contribution nonetheless tells us some things about the Wellington art community that we locals didn't even know before - and that really is special.
- Gary Farrow
