❋Design
❉Dialogue
IN CONVERSATION WITH PHOTOGRAPHER MARY GAUDIN
I recently came across the fascinating book, ‘I never met a straight line I didn’t like.’ Matthew Arnold writes it in a way that tells the story of a fascinating decade of Christchurch, New Zealand’s architectural legacy when hundreds of homes were designed in “the closest thing the country has to a modern Indigenous style of architecture." There remains a handful of intact examples still today, and their visual representation in the book by New Zealand-born and France-based photographer Mary Gaudin, perfectly captures the design integrity of the homes as a reflection of considered living patterns. Off the back of a recent trip to Japan, I spoke with Mary about how she established her affecting photographic practice and style.
Open Journal (OJ): Firstly, how was Japan?
Mary Gaudin (MG): I’ve been back from Japan for a few weeks, and the images, especially from Kyoto, are still very present in my mind's eye. I visited quite a number of small temples and shrine gardens while in Kyoto, so many of which really are dream-like spaces.
I’m looking forward to the imminent release of Peter Shaw’s book on his many years of visiting temples and shrines in Japan.
OJ: How did you begin your photographic journey?
MG: I studied photography part-time while I was living in London. The degree was quite theory-centred, and I became fascinated with architecture. In fact, my final dissertation looked at the way photography influenced Mies van der Rohe’s architecture. I was quite obsessed with his building back then.
Matthew Arnold and I published ‘Down the Long Driveway, You’ll See It’ - a book on modernist New Zealand houses. The title came from the potter Bruce Martin, describing how to find his house. Incidentally, we’ve just released a limited edition reissue of the book, which has been out of print for a few years now.
OJ: What do you look for when photographing architecture? Is there a process, i.e. shooting in the order of navigation?
MG: I generally don’t spend a lot of time setting up shots. My process is much more fluid and spontaneous. I mainly shoot with natural light. It’s a cliché but light is fundamental to capturing a space or building for me.
Practically, I set up wider shots first and then focus on details. My approach isn’t very structured. I, more often than not, take the camera off the tripod, which gives me the freedom to move around a space to find interesting angles and light, etc.
OJ: There is a wonderfully intimate quality to your photographs. They have the feeling of offering a way in, coaxing the viewer into the frame. Maybe it’s the lighting? The subject matter? The feeling of a story being told by the composition of places and things that give the impression that someone has just exited. That what the photo shows is actually the midway point in a narrative. What are your thoughts? What is it you try to conjure in a photograph?
MG: I personally enjoy architectural photos that show everyday traces of life. I remember as a kid in 1970s New Zealand being really affected by spaces, particularly people’s homes. As a child, you don’t articulate these feelings, but you do absorb them. Perhaps I’m subconsciously trying to recreate that feeling of being in a room in my photos.
OJ: I understand you shoot on both film and digitally. What is your preferred method, or is it dependent on the project and the visual language required from a brief?
MG: I much prefer shooting on film and always prefer the results. It’s a very different way of working.
The Japanese photographer Takashi Homma talked about using film as … “more of a collaboration with myself and the camera.” Because you don’t see the results immediately, you really have to put a kind of trust in the camera and yourself to find a way of documenting a space. The relationship really is much more intimate than shooting digitally. There’s no room for auto-correction and changes to an image. In a funny way, shooting on film allows me to relax and be more spontaneous.
OJ: When and why did you move to France?
MG: I moved to the south of France to be with my French partner. I was living in the UK at the time, and it was quite a big life change as I really loved living in London. But now I can’t imagine going back to living in a big city. These days, I much prefer easy access to the beach and countryside for walks with our Labrador, Aalto.
OJ: What would you love to do if you weren’t a photographer?
MG: I’ve always been fascinated with weaving. I did a short course in my 20s in New Zealand and loved the physicality of working on a loom. After visiting an indigo & weaving studio outside of Kyoto, I dream of returning to do a weaving course there.
Special thanks to Mary Gaudin - find out more on her website and Instagram. Interview by Tiffany Jade.
