Hawke's Bay couches set the scene for creative book of photography

Lee Pritchard with his new book Couch Series 2020. Photo / Warren Buckland

Lee Pritchard is not what you would call a couch potato, however the couch was where he and his girlfriend came up with a creative plan.

The self-employed plumber is always busy and loves to take photographs. At the end of last year he was working at an artist's house and asked him if he could take his photo.

"He was sitting on his couch and the photo was really nice. On New Year's Eve I sat with my girlfriend and we tried to think of a way we could use the image. We thought why not do something with 20 creative people, and then we thought, what about a couch series? Photos of creative people sitting on their couches."

That is how his book A Couch Series began.

Little did they know what 2020 had in store and how relevant a couch would become to people during lockdown.

"I compiled a list of people I wanted to contact and my thoughts at the time were that any profit would go to a men's health organisation. However, in the end we decided that it would go to Cranford Hospice because we wanted to make sure any profit stayed here in the Bay."

He has also used a local printer to publish the book "rather than sending it to China".

"I think that's one good thing that's come out of Covid. People are more aware of spending their money locally."

Lee set about phoning the people on his list and asking if they would be interested in taking part: "I said to them 'this might sound strange but can I come and take a photo of you on your couch'.

"Everyone was more than willing and it's been so much fun doing it."

Lee, who describes himself as a photo taker rather than a photographer, had shot just five of the planned 20 photos when the country went into lockdown.

"When we came out of lockdown I took six in a week."

The project has been a real family affair, with his son doing all the design and layout.

"I'm really proud of the end product and couldn't have done it with my children and partner."

This is not Pritchard 's first book. In 2007 he self-published The Hotel Cabana, a look back into the beginnings when a local carpenter named Martin McNalty obtained a licence to build a hotel, The Empire, in 1862 on the corner of Shakespeare Rd and Brewster St in Napier. The 1970s saw the Hotel Cabana become one of the first hotels in Hawke's Bay to host live music and entertainment six nights a week.

A Couch Series is a beautifully presented book and is available at Beattie and Forbes or directly from Lee on email couchseries2020@gmail.com