Posts by Joe Wylie
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Speaker: This is your National Library, in reply to
That really surprises you with this government?
Perhaps I should be surprised then that the National Library is still engaged in the worthy work that Gordon's taken the trouble to tell us about.
I'm not really surprised that even the official recording of our own story has been outsourced and portrayed as little more than an exercise in civil engineering, leavened by "evocative" shots of poignant tat hung from the barriers we're forbidden to cross. Let's not forget the remarkable photographic legacy of the recovery effort from the great depression. Of course it's too much to expect our quasi-corporate decision-makers to show even a fraction of the inspiration of Roosevelt's Farm Security Administration.
the kind of exclusive access that comes with Nat Library endorsement
A career in libraries may not be as glamorous as you imagine.
The farthest thing from my imagination. I'm talking about the privilege of photographing in restricted areas.
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I do note that CERA does seem to be involved.
There's no mention of CERA funding the project, though understandably it would be carried out with their co-operation and protection. As it happens there's some rather nice work being done by local photographers, mostly unremunerated, and without the benefit of the kind of exclusive access that comes with Nat Library endorsement.
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Speaker: This is your National Library, in reply to
I don't begrudge Ross Becker his gig. For the type of work he does he's a superb photographer. It's the top-down nature of how the project seems to have been commissioned that bothers me. Shouldn't the people of Christchurch have been involved in telling their own story when government funding is involved? Such a major event needs a variety of voices, particularly those who can bring an empathy derived from living here. For example, this would probably have gone unrecorded save for the efforts of someone with a deep connection born of experience.
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Hard News: The scandal that keeps on giving, in reply to
. . . a media baron who is noted for his ambitions to create and continue a corporate dynasty.
Anyone remember his thwarted super shares scheme? Flashback to 1993:
Mr Murdoch's scheme is aimed at securing long-term control of News Corp at a time when the company is poised to enter strategic alliances with other big players in the world communications industry. He would be able to issue shares for acquisitions without significantly diluting his own family's 32.7 per cent position in the stock, thus avoiding a repetition of the massively debt-funded expansion that almost sank his empire three years ago. -
Thanks for that Gordon.
Something I'm not entirely comfortable with at the moment re. the Nat Library - is it perhaps just a touch Wellington-centric? Right now there's a very laudable Canterbury earthquake-related initiative underway to "help the people of Christchurch and Canterbury and other New Zealanders make sense of what happened and provide a disciplined record of the progress of recovery. It has received significant funding from the National Library of New Zealand and the published photographs will be permanently available in the National Digital Heritage Archive."The Library appears to have engaged photographer Ross Becker, who would seem to travel regularly from his Wellington home to carry out his assignments. While it's great that his technically excellent work is being made available online, it's a documentation that records very little of the human aspect of what's happening in Christchurch.
There are very few people in Becker's shots, and events of special significance to Christchurch people, such as the ongoing demolition of the Barbadoes St basilica, are portrayed from a largely engineering point of view .
It would have been great to have a rather more humanised record, with some involvement from local photographers. Instead the Library appears to be producing the kind of record that perhaps should have been CERA's responsibility. A great initiative, but shaping as a missed opportunity.
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Love the sandsick splatter!
It certainly caught my attention back when it was up on the Sunday Star Times site. While I'd like to think that their (probable) school-leaver Photoshop jockey chose the pic for that reason, I suspect that they were strapped for time. And I'm always tickled by how closely Dr Morgan resembles my onetime Sydney neighbour Brucie the tow truck driver.
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Hard News: The scandal that keeps on giving, in reply to
Maybe it’s because you never have to drive home, or even stumble very far.
And if you do happen to stray while pissed as a penguin, some kind soul might even offer you a lift.
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to
We're now about, what? about 14 weeks out from an election. Is it an issue that certain commitments from govt./business/other should or must be extracted before then?
Given Brownlee's craven collusion - and really, that's a perfectly fair assessment - with the insurance industry against their clients, information will continue to be released in a way that minimises any possibility of collective action by the aggrieved.
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to
. . . this just adds to it.
Roundly pwned, more like.
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Hard News: The scandal that keeps on giving, in reply to
Ooh here's a screengrab of the shaving foam custard pie incident
Totally OTT. A simple lamington atop the head would have sufficed.