Digital Technology 2 - Wk 3 Contextualise a photograph by someone else

Graham Billing, Writer

Who took the photo and Why?
The photographer is Reg Graham (1930-2007), this photo is part of a project he began in 1993. His work consists of portraits of New Zealanders in the arts predominately.
What is his ethnicity and does this influence the work?
He is European. I'm not sure if this influenced his work but the majority of his subjects are of European descent.
When and where did they take this photo?
This photo was taken in Graham Billing's hotel balcony in 1998
What are his political beliefs and are these relevant to the work?
I could not find anything regarding his political beliefs however he was a passionate supporter of the arts which suffered a lot of funding issues for people and organisations in the arts. He photographed shows and did publicity photographs for theatres.
What was his social status and background and how does this relate to his subject matter?
Reg Graham spent most of his life in education. He taught in schools and colleges of education.
In what decade or century was the work taken? Does this influence your reading of this work?
Reg Graham started this project in 1993 and published his book (Click, Portrait of New Zealanders) in 2006. The portraits highlight the styles, norms and fashion of the time (90's). The images have a natural feel about them, before photoshop, filters and all the fancy technical vices we have available today. The quality isn't as sharp or refined which takes a bit of getting use to, especially because my eye is so use to digital images.
Were there events happening at the time that may have influenced this work?
?
How is the work presented?
As a book titled: Click Portraits of New Zealanders published in 2006 by Longacre Press, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Where are you viewing this work and how does this affect your reading of it?
In the privacy of my home, its comfortable for me because i'm in my own space and i can take my time going through the images and doing research into his subjects if i am interested in their stories.

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