The Convent

This former Catholic girls boarding school and convent was closed in the mid 1980’s. The buildings have been used for a variety of purposes over the years (including featuring in a couple of Peter Jackson films), but it has now been deemed unsafe and closed indefinately. Although carrying the Historic Places Trust’s highest heritage protection […]

THB

One Way

Whanganui, March 2013: This former Hospital and rest-home for the elderly, has unfortunately taken a one way trip to nowhere… The state of the place has deteriorated dramatically since the last visit in 2012- the next visit I fear will show even more signs of neglect and vandalism…

Factor

Wellington, NZ, March 2013: Some HDR (High-dynamic-range) images I shot a few weeks ago- duly processed with recently aquired HDR software Photomatix, plus Lightroom…

The Tower

The iconic Hawera water tower has watched over this South Taranaki town for a century now. Standing at 55 meters high, the tower was saved from demolition after years of neglect in the 80s/90s had made it unsafe. Hawera (or “Te Hawera”) literally means ‘the burnt place’, and originates after an incident between two feuding […]

Empire State

New York, February 2004: On my way back to Dublin, I stopped in New York… There had been a blizzard but the Empire State beckoned… Completed in 1931 in distinctive Art Deco style- its roof height at 381 meters (with antenna included 443.2m high)- it’s still one of the highest buildings on the planet- at number […]

Eye Contact

March, NZ, 2013: An excerpt by renowned New Zealand Art/Photography reviewer Peter Ireland, on my latest exhibition Stilled Life. Photography’s documentary tradition that Cunningham’s images add to has never been very fashionable in terms of art collecting, for pretty obvious reasons. Why tolerate a stone in your shoe when you can simply buy another pair? Documentary […]

A Bad Education

Wellington, NZ, March 2013: This former highschool was closed about 15 years ago… It’s still standing- just. The decay and vandalism that has occurred in the interim is astounding! It’s finally due for demolition soon- the land it stands on is to be developed into a retirement village …

Spheres

Wellington, NZ, February 2013: Experimenting with light painting at an abandoned hillside gun emplacement- with the usual suspect, Dark Halide … We were shooting both digital and film- the later more successful… FujiFilm 645wi/Kodak Portra 400