Brian Brake

Rights Information
Year
1978
Reference
25996
Media type
Audio
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Rights Information
Year
1978
Reference
25996
Media type
Audio
Categories
Nonfiction radio programs
Radio interviews
Radio programs
Sound recordings
Duration
00:51:47
Credits
RNZ Collection
Brake, Brian, 1927-1988, Interviewee
THOMSON, Graeme, Interviewer
Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (estab. 1976, closed 1988), Broadcaster

Brian Brake, one of New Zealand's best professional photographers, talks about his life and career. He tells of the photo agency Magnum; Paris and its non-competitive approach; and describes the lessons learned in press photography such as meeting deadlines, and getting the "big shot". He also speaks about his award winning colour essay entitled "Monsoon". Brake received an ‘Award of Merit’ from the American Society of Photographers and high praise from Neru, who after seeing the published slides said, “How can a foreigner know us so well?”.

In the late 1960s Brake left Magnum, where the European based photographers thought the American photographers in the group were too dominant and commercial. He talks about Magnum’s famed founder Henri-Cartier Bresson, and how he understood the medium and how photographers thought.

At age 12-13 years he spent his summer holidays in Arthur’s Pass, helping artists and crafts-people like National Park caretaker and photographer Charlie Warden and Doreen Blumhardt with their work. They also helped him through a rough emotional time at age 14 when his mother died. Using an early folding Kodak camera, his enthusiasm for photography grew and he joined the Boys High camera club and Christchurch Photographic Society. By 15 years of age he had decided to become a photographer, and after moving to Wellington began as an assistant to the hard task master Spencer Digby, a well-known Wellington portrait photographer who set him in good stead and became an important influence on his life.

After leaving Magnum in 1967 following his "Egypt" series, his fascination with Asia led him to set up a film documentary unit in Hong Kong. He still hopes to do a series on the civilisation of Asia. However, he left the business centre of Hong Kong for Titirangi, Auckland, a couple of years ago, as a means to nurture his creative photographic projects and family needs. With 30 years of photographic work behind him, he talks about the importance of technique - continuously honing one's skills and experimenting with different equipment, though admittedly always returning to use a Leica 35mm. He discusses German and Japanese cameras and his use of a variety of cameras for different types of work.

"Tangata" his latest exhibition is from a series of photographs taken in 1975 that look deeper into historical New Zealand objects, a project he says that has inspired new work.

Graeme lists Brake's published photographic books including "The Gift of the Sea" - a collaboration with Doreen Blumhardt on New Zealand Potters, and a book on Peking, "A Tale of Three Cities". Brake shares ideas for further projects in Asia, his desire to make a documentary film on Rewi Alley in China and a film titled, "The Living Cloth" relating the design and wearing of textiles to the way of life in South-east Asia.

The interview concludes with Brian Brake saying “You can’t go to a country and become involved with the way of life and just leave it at that, it must become… part of your own life as well”.

[NB. Originally recorded across two tapes resulting in a break in the digitised audio at 00:30:44]