Patrick Reynolds: Do You Realise / 1 February - 11 March 2006

Patrick Reynolds' exhibition Do you realise at John Leech Gallery showcases his most recent series of work that includes fifty-six photographs set on Auckland’s West Coast beaches. The series consists of intensely personal imagery including photographs of the coastal landscape familiar to Reynolds, children at play and interaction among friends. These photographs provide a certain familiarity for the viewer by depicting imagery common to New Zealand culture.

This body of work is partly inspired by the lyrics of the Flaming Lips song Do you realise and enables Reynolds to explore issues of interest including the relationship between conflicting emotions of loss and joy. Reynolds has chosen a subjective rather than objective viewpoint in photographing this series of works. This supports his interest in communicating certain ideas through the medium of photography and sets his work aside from the recently popularised photographic practice of removing any trace of the photographer to produce images of alienation and detachment. Reynolds subjective stance is furthered by his use of traditional methods of printing to produce selenium-toned silver gelatin prints. This method of practice has enhanced the feeling of nostalgia in this series, almost as if capturing moments in time that have been immortalised on film.

Patrick Reynolds is considered a significant figure in contemporary New Zealand photography and has exhibited widely since the 1980s. His work is included in a number of private and public art collections throughout New Zealand. Reynolds is also widely known for his work in periodicals such as New Zealand House and Garden and New Zealand Home and Entertainment.