During the early months of the pandemic, AIPA member Andy Spain did a course to shake up his photography practice of 30 years. Forced to re-consider why he was a photographer, what began to emerge was his continual search for a place of home and the comfort that photography gave him. His project, Sanctuary, was born.
Over the course of the last three years, Andy has photographed Wellington residents in their place of sanctuary, where the space around the subject is as important as the portrait itself. While shooting this body of work, Andy realised that his place of sanctuary was out with his camera, meeting these subjects and sharing a short moment about their life and story.
“Pandemics, mental health crisis, inequality, the rise of the far right, war on the border of Europe, it’s not surprising we all need a special place to go to. I asked people where their place of sanctuary was and arranged to photograph them in it.”
Andy Spain
Open from February 3rd to 26th, Andy Spain’s Sanctuary exhibition can be viewed at Photospace Gallery in Wellington.
