Halfway between peaceful and melancholy, the works of Sydney-based New Zealand artist Damian Seagar capture the solitude of remote countrysides. Using a 35mm analogue camera, Seagar takes portraits of homes in the wilder corners of the country in what he describes as “time capsule vignettes”, immortalising the last vestiges of what was once someone’s home. “At some time someone loved and relied upon this building”, he says, “and its history is in every faded weatherboard and rusted iron roof.”
In Seagar’s work we are left to confront the passing of time. Though their human inhabitants are long gone, these facades retain a sense of individuality and personality, stubbornly resisting wind, sun and rain to come into a life of their own. While paint peels to reveal bare wood beneath, new inhabitants take residence as trees spring up through floorboards and fences tip and wobble, creating winding passages through the landscape. There is a haunting beauty in such visceral images of change, each building suffused with a quiet determination to withstand the elements. Seagar usually shoots only one frame of each building, creating a unique memory of each structure, before leaving these homes to their quiet afterlife.
Above: Damian Seagar, Howe’s Valley Creek Cottage. Kodak Ektar 100ASA 35mm. Courtesy: the artist.
