Ata mārie Ōtepoti
A seat and a camera provide opportunities to pay attention to the spaces we inhabit.
Walking the dog in Bathgate Park on a Saturday morning. Greeting the city from a seat on Portsmouth Drive during his morning bike ride to work. These are routines that Senior Lecturer and artist Scott Eady values. Photography helps him to pay attention, to notice and appreciate his surroundings. Last year Scott began using an old Box Brownie camera instead of his mobile phone, discovering that he loves the quality of the image and the degree of unpredictability.
Scott's appointment as the 2020 Ōtepoti Artist in Residence at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery has seen him working with young people from Bathgate Park School, again using the Box Brownie. Twelve of Scott's Bathgate photographs are being displayed at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery alongside 12 photographs by the school students.
During his residency Scott has also completed his personal project of 250 rides to work on his secondhand Cinelli bicycle, taking 250 photographs of Otago Harbour en route. The project has culminated in a large neon sign at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery that captures his greeting/question to the city, and a purpose-built seat. An old piano, from former music venue Chippendale House in Stafford Street, provided Scott with materials for the bench seat. The seat provides a space for Gallery visitors to pause in the busyness of life to still themselves and enjoy their surroundings, just as Scott did during his morning bike ride.