Shown: Exposures Gallery, Wellington – 1984 then Real Pictures Gallery, Auckland, 1985.

Colour prints scanned from film then archival inkjet prints made. Open edition.

Commuting between south Auckland and the city is a derelict area between Westfield freezing works and the railway line. A mangrove swamp bordering an overgrown lava flow. Waves of rampant ground cover changing rapidly with the seasons. The landscape behaving more like a theatrical event than a place.

Returning to photograph the bush, I found these fringe areas had their effect. Seeing them altered my perception of the natural landscape. Self-made gardens appeared, bordered by limits to growth. Isolating details rather than grand vistas led to a more holistic appreciation of the way the land adapts to change.