This survey shows 33 black and white photographs by the now Christchurch-based photographer Adrienne Martyn. She says in the exhibition’s catalogue that when she decided to concentrate on portrait photography, nobody was making portraits that explored the psychological.
‘I’m interested in showing a combination of strength and vulnerability in men and women: on the whole women have been photographed by men who concentrated on a singular aspect exaggerating it to be representative of the whole. Being a woman and knowing I’m not like that, I decided to photograph women possessing this duality. The same goes for my portraits of men.’
Frank Dickenson, then the director of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery that organised the exhibition, says of Martyn’s work, ‘Portraiture in whatever medium has always been a difficult art. I believe this exhibition shows Martyn’s strengths in this special field and show her stature in the ranks of New Zealand photographers.
Press
→ Dramatic stage for photo art, New Zealand Herald, 05-04-1990
→ Cutting edge to Hammond's work, New Zealand Herald, 02-05-1990
Ephemera
→ Adrienne Martyn: Portraits A Survey 1979-1987, 1990, exhibition card
→ Adrienne Martyn: Portraits A Survey 1979-1987, 1990, poster