Most Viewers will View the Images In this Collection as Just "Another Record Shot" but for me the "Author" they mostly represent something more than a record, in fact there is a story attached to most of them but just as a casual viewer you have to know a little of the narrative Behind the images. The Collection was taken on a visit to my home town of Hokitika on the "West Coast" of the South Island, New Zealand during November 2022. It all started from a walk around the Town and looking carefully at all of the different Architectural styles that was around, the wall textures, the reflections in the windows, the state of repair and decay, that the windows were in at the time, the town has a lot of structures built just after the Second World War (WW11) and during this period you saw a lot of wooden framed old style "Bay Windows" in houses of this period then progressing to the current time where you have Modern, 2000's construction which features a lot of alloy frames and "Double Glazing". Lots of these images come from strange and unusual places, some representing Industries that have failed , (The Racing Industry) some that have survived the turmoil and upheaval within there respective Industries, e.g. The Finance Industry- Banking No longer requires a Main Street Shop Frontages to operate their business's - the internet and cloud services provide cost effective ways for them to provide their services. The Health Industry - Mental Health where Govt' Policy just simply "Closed Down" the Industry completely. So many sites where in the past large No's of people were cared for in these Institutions . For so many it was the only place that these patients had ever known and called "Home". In most cases these Institutions have been closed and left in a massive state of disrepair or sold off to private entrepreneurs who have struggled to make something meaningful of their investment. Others depict Industries that have failed all for different reasons, the venison Industry where the health standards along with the market price of their product made it difficult if not impossible to meet the new standards so they closed.
Then the Hotel Industry was another that saw massive change, social change demanded by Govt eg RBT and the Upgrading Of Health Standards all took their toll. The hotel Industry fought back by extending their Legal closing time beyond the 6 p.m.(not that made much difference as they all operated outside the 6 p.m. closing Trading Hours on the "Coast") Hokitika had 12 -14 Hotels in the Town and the surrounding District, now in 2022 only 4 remain.
Greymouth had 17-18 , one of those was where Queen Elizabeth II stopped on her Official visit to NZ in 1958, now only 3 remain.
Then Commercial Buildings and Govt Offices have been left to decay, or just simply demolished eg the Post Office in Greymouth which had a World wide reputation for its architectural style. when the time came to do something positive about it what did the Govt' do "Demolish It" !!
For me some of these buildings hold special memories as a place where I got my first job and the doorway was one that I walked through 100's of times and the window that I gazed aimlessly out of on a wet and windy day. now with the passage of time these buildings have slipped into a state of disrepair and in most cases now unrepairable.
In other instances the Govt just simply withdrew its services from the region eg. the Inland Revenue Dept in Greymouth. Then the digital age has bought even more change to the services operated by Govt's and Local Councils.
Over many years successive NZ Govt's have all failed to invest in Services and Infrastructure in this region of NZ hence the Region has been left with decaying buildings and loss of community services and whatever infrastructure that is left is generally in poor shape.
The majority of the images where taken in Hokitika with a small number taken in the near -bye Town of Greymouth. Typical Of the weather on the "Coast" it rained on numerous days, evedent in some of the images, and heaps of these images were taken in the rain then other days it was brilliant sunny and fine, and for me typical of the "Coast" the Hospitality of the people is just fantastic unbelievably welcoming and sharing of their experiences, one incident I remember so vividly I knocked on the door to seek permission to photograph the house and a lady came to the door and welcomed me into her home to show me around, and offer me a cup of tea where else would you have that hospitality offered to a complete stranger unbelievable !! that is a "Coaster" for you.
So for me the "Story Line" is much stronger than just for the casual viewer.
Any comments ,at all, would be most welcome via my email address on the cover page.
"Como House" Tancred Street Hokitika.
"Rentons" old Building in Tancred Street Hokitika
"Rentons" Old Building Hamilton Street Hokitika
Revell Street Hokitika
SouthLand Hotel Hokitika
