Photographer John Pennington explores Gisborne in exhibition ‘How the Light Gets In’

Summertime When The Living Is Easy is a photo by John Pennington and part of How The Light Gets In, a new exhibition running from September 19 to December 7 at Tairāwhiti Museum.

New work by photographer John Pennington is part of an exhibition called "How The Light Gets In" based on long-term community-based documentary projects.

“How The Light Gets In” reflects Pennington’s interest in how photography can be used to engage with a geographical place and its communities.

“This involves photography as sense-making, orientation and discovery, he says.

“By its nature, photography forces the photographer to observe closely ... to notice the mundane, the comical and the significant.

“It’s a work of immersion and integration.”

Pennington says the physical landscape is mediated and enriched by the people who live there. Engaging with this richness in all its variety and diversity is an important part of his practice.

Taking his cue from the Leonard Cohen song of the same name, Pennington’s portraits “reflect our imperfections and vulnerabilities not as barriers or obstacles to understanding and connection, but the ways in which we recognise the complexity and beauty of people”.

His last exhibition in Gisborne was called “4:10 Upstairs” and was a collaboration with Sarah Cleave and her daughter Lennox. Featuring bodies in time, the exhibition provided a glimpse into the second-level interiors of premises at 64 and 72 Lowe St in the central business district before earthquake-strengthening work began.

Pennington and artist wife Valerie Bos moved to Gisborne from Wellington in 2022.

The exhibition “How The Light Gets In” opens on Friday and runs until December 7 at Tairāwhiti Museum.