UD photos to be featured in New Zealand exhibition

Three ferns in Fjorland by Pricilla A. Smith

With its diverse array of pristine beaches, bubbling hot springs, clear streams crossed by swinging foot bridges and lush tropical rainforests giving way to gleaming glaciers, New Zealand is a photographer's paradise.

For a group of photography students from halfway around the world, the beauty of the landscape and the friendliness of the native New Zealanders, or Kiwis as they like to be called, proved inspiring.

There was an added bonus for these students and their instructor, Pricilla A. Smith, art, in UD's Winter Session program in New Zealand: they were invited to have some of their work included in the inaugural exhibition of a major new art gallery in New Zealand.

Located in Auckland, the Outthere Gallery is the brainchild of some of New Zealand's top photographers, including Olympic photographer Sheena Haywood.

"The Outthere Gallery is having its grand opening on March 26, and there will be significant media coverage because of the professional status of the founders and a potential client base that includes photography collectors within the international yachting set," Smith said. "This is very exciting and will give UD coverage in international photography circles."

Smith's interest in teaching a photography course in New Zealand began about 5 years ago when she visited New Zealand on a skiing–photography trip.

"This piqued my interest to meet more New Zealand photographers, and so I sought more gallery experiences as in going to galleries and meeting with photographers" Smith said. "I also was interested in having more exhibition opportunities for UD students and faculty in that country."

This picture perfect opportunity for the class of 16 students, including photography majors, art minors and others, began almost immediately after the group arrived in Auckland after a 26-hour flight from Philadelphia, ?

"We approached the program as a team event–something that works only if it is a team effort," Smith said. "It worked very well, with the more experienced photographers helping the less experienced ones. The rapport among the group was just great."?

Each member of the class had to pick three samples of work to be included in the exhibit, a selection process viewed by Smith as being an outgrowth of the student learning experience.

"I was an adviser to the group as they went about this process," Smith said. "I wanted to give them the tools to use and the room to do this, and, as we progressed, I felt the relationship between teacher and students getting redefined as mentor and mentee. It was a joy to see them growing as people."

In addition to sharpening their photographic skills against a backdrop of spectacular natural beauty while kayaking and hiking through tropical rainforest and on glaciers, UD students got to meet with members of the country's indigenous population, the Maori, at a sacred site called a Marae.

"One of our group was formally invited to represent us in the Maori compound, and this was a great honor for us," Smith said. "The Maori, along with our Kiwi guides, taught us a way to see the native culture. They opened our eyes to an new way of appreciating New Zealand, beyond the country's visual beauty."

Smith said her favorite part of the experience as photographer and faculty director was sharing in the sense of community that developed as the group met each new individual and technical challenge.

"I had five weeks of being in an incredible photographic site working with other photographers," Smith said. "It was wonderful watching the class of students evolve into a group of thinking and acting photographers."

Marlborough Sound by Pricilla A. Smith

–Jerry Rhodes