ART NEW ZEALAND ‘Loaded Dialogues’ Tim J Veling
Loaded Dialogues
Tim Veling’s Photographs of his Father’s Last Months
Mary Macpherson
“To photograph is to freeze a moment in the present, but even as a picture is taken, we have made a connection with history and its ghostly companions, memory and mortality. We feel their presence particularly when we view images of the deceased -loved ones, family or ancestors – transporting us back to the time when the image was made, or being once again in the presence of a lost person or events than our wavering recollections.”
Tim J. Veling, born in 1980, lives and works in Christchurch. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts with distinction from the University of Canterbury in 2006. He is currently a lecturer in photography at the University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts.
Veling has exhibited nationally and internationally including Pre-marital Bliss, International Photobook Festival, Germany (2011); Sapporo White/Support Structures, Isamu Noguchi Glass Pyramid, Japan (2012); in the 2013 Christchurch Arts Festival, and Tangata / People, The 14th China Pingyao International Photography Festival, China (2014). He is a key contributor to, and administrator of Place in Time: The Christchurch Documentary Project.
The cornerstones of Veling’s practice are the psychological landscape and social-political environment. His work straddles the genres of fine art and documentary photography. He is currently engaged in long-term projects relating to the aftermath of Christchurch’s devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
Veling’s work is held in private and public collections throughout New Zealand, including in the University of Canterbury and Christchurch Art Gallery collections.