On Now
If you find yourself on Cuba Street on a Friday night and spot a pack of photographers poking their lenses into shop windows, it means one of two things: either Taylor Swift has added Wellington to her latest tour and the paparazzi have turned up; or the Wellington Lens Club is on their fortnightly photo walk in the CBD.
The WLC has an unusual history. It was launched nearly two years ago by vintage lens collector and restorer Benni Krueger as “The Vintage Lens Club.” But what was meant to be a small regional group quickly drew nearly 40,000 members in more than 20 countries. A new group for locals only was spun off, and they’ve been roaming the streets of the city ever since. While the WLC is a private group, membership is open to photographers at every level so long as they live in or regularly spend time in the Wellington area. See Wellington Lens Club Meetups on Facebook.
For this exhibition, entitled Our City, all the photos in the show were captured within a few blocks of the venue, and the project is meant to be a love letter to the city that the members call home.
While the exhibiting photographers use all manner of cameras and lenses, the group encourages the use of older and experimental glass, not all of which was designed for still photography. Some of the photos in the exhibition were shot with lenses originally designed for vintage cinema projectors, x-ray machines, aerial reconnaissance and even military tanks.
The WLC’s mission is to capture the capital's diversity and dynamism, its daily life and its vibrant culture. Each photographer will be showcasing their own unique approach and perspective, and this will be reflected in the variety of images on show.
Those with interest in the event are encouraged to follow the club’s Instagram account. Photos by the exhibiting photographers will be posted in the days leading up to the exhibition.
CONTACT
Instagram: @wellingtonlensclub
Facebook: Wellington Lens Club Meetups
Image:
Poster credit - Jon Kroll
Up Next
The Creative Itch's week of arty adventures & Sparkle Debacle Events! Celebrating Wellington communities and exploring the creative beings we ALL are.
10am-5pm Daily: Check out the evolving exhibition, meet the artists, see the creative process in action, and have a creative crack in the ‘Creative Brewings’ space.
EVENTS
Arty Farty Closing Celebration Party
Sunday 13 April, 2 - 4pm
Come for a celebratory drink, nibble and WHOOP at Wellington’s ‘Walls of Wonder/ful’ developed over the week!
WORKSHOPS
To book: message @the.creative.itch.collective or email: the.creative.itch.collective@gmail.com
Activities are FREE, koha appreciated
Glitter Bomb Collage
Wednesday, 5pm - 6.30pm
Bond with buddies (old or shiny-just-met new) over a pile of magazines, chop and glue to your imaginations content.
Pillow Talk
Thursday, 6pm - 8pm
Art on Pillowcases - Exploring the complexity, beauty, joy and pain of childbirth and supporting families through.
Figure Drawing -Drag 'n 'Drop
Friday, 7 - 9pm
This workshop celebrates clothed figure drawing, diversity and creative expression.
CONTACT
Instagram: @the.creative.itch.collective
Email: the.creative.itch.collective@gmail.com
Pōneke Portals is a group show featuring a series of installations inspired by portals. Rather than transporting visitors to another place or time, these portals resist the pull of elsewhere, returning attention to the here and now. The installations invite relationality with more-than-human worlds and counter-colonial ways of seeing. Each portal-based work becomes an opening—amplifying encounters in the present moment while acknowledging the past and possible futures of Pōneke and its surrounding lands.
ARTISTS
Featuring works by Lu Li, Daniel Coombes, Leandro Lopez, and Shannon Xiao in collaboration with Irihāpeti Hokianga Te Aho, Te Motu Kairangi, Native Land Digital, Posthuman Nexus, & Temporary Show.
CONTACT
Lu Li: Instagram @luli_lilu
Daniel Coombes: danregcoombes@gmail.com
Leandro Lopez: LinkedIn
Shannon Xiao: shannonxiao@temporaryshow.com
Images:
Lu Li
Daniel Coombes
Leandro Lopez
Shannon Xiao
Marble & Mud is a creative manifestation of my identify examined under the lens of my Greek whakapapa. Years of exploring my relationship with my heritage and upbringing have brought rise to the same core themes with an undeniable flow, be it in icons, colours, symbols or sound. This exhibition will be a collage of visual art, showing mixed media, textiles, writing, projection and performance art.
My experience of self within the Greek diaspora is layered with love and pain, beauty and rejection. My gender, sexuality, purpose and ways of being both clash in conflict and yearn in longing for home. Processing inherited trauma, internalised colonisation and cultural displacement currently sits in a dreamscape of classical pop art, stories from the village, and where I find myself between the Marble and Mud.
WORKSHOPS
Wednesday 24 April: 6.30pm
Automatic Drawing
Koha entry
Thursday 25 April: 6.30 - 8.30pm
Craft an Evil Eye Charm
$30, limit to 8 people
CONTACT
Instagram: @eleftheria_pnevma
Images:
Matai Masks
Ovulation Automation
Handcrafted creativity shaped by nature
Join us for an intimate look into the creative world of mother-daughter duo Marie & Katie Pickering, artists inspired by the beauty of rural New Zealand.
Marie – With over 30 years of experience in all things craft, her artistry spans painting, needle felting, and beyond. Her work brings imagination to life through texture, color, and detail.
Katie – A fibre & fabric artist with a deep passion for natural dyeing and all things botanical. Inspired by the land, she explores colour through plants,creating unique, organic impressions.
Living in Central Hawke’s Bay, their work is deeply connected to the landscapes, flora, and natural rhythms of Aotearoa.