Dress up time at gallery

Extreme close-ups of faces, superheroes and kinky dolls - these are the themes greeting visitors to the the Rayner Brothers Gallery's latest exhibition.

Dress-ups is the Rayner Brothers' first group photography exhibition and includes works by Mark Rayner and Leigh Mitchell-Anyon, both of Wanganui, and Catherine Russ from Palmerston North.

Paul Rayner from the gallery said the three artists had been given the theme and could do with it what they wished.

"The three photographers responded in their own ways and, even though they didn't consult with each other, there are similarities between them."

Both Ms Russ and Mr Rayner chose to photograph extreme close-ups of faces. In Ms Russ' case, the photos were of children and teenagers about to compete in a dance competition in Lower Hutt.

Mr Rayner's close-ups are of mutant Ken dolls, with different types of dress and a slight fetish air to them.

There's also a link between Mr Rayner's work and Mr Mitchell-Anyon's work, as both of them photographed plastic dolls.

Mr Mitchell-Anyon's photos are of packets of plastic dolls that he found at a second-hand clothing shop, Save Mart.

He said while the dolls were no more than toys to children, a closer look reveals them to be "sexual, even kinky" with their full complement of genitalia.

"I find it intriguing that the male dolls are always in packets of twos and the female dolls are always in threes - yet they both cost $3.99. And I've never seen a packet of mixed dolls."

Dress-ups is on now and runs until October 13. The next exhibition will be paintings and 3D works by Rachael Garland.