Picturing Asia: Double Take

Stunning images, complex narratives, a fascinating conversation: pictures of Asia by two of the great masters of documentary photography. Picturing Asia: Double Take pairs and contrasts the work of New Zealander Brian Brake (1927-1988), and American Steve McCurry (born 1950). Brake, best known for his Monsoon photo essay in Life magazine in 1961, inspired McCurry with that series. McCurry later became famous for his 1984 photograph of Sharbat Gula, known as Afghan Girl and published on the cover of National Geographic in June 1985. Not just pictures of Asia, these photographs are also invitations to ‘picture this’ – to find the stories within.

Brian Brake was based in Titirangi during his final years. What better reason to host this rare exhibition which includes photographs of the hills which Brake made his home after returning from Asia, at Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery.

This exhibition was commissioned by Asia Society Hong Kong to commemorate the Society’s 60th anniversary.

WHEN
Sat 25 Feb - Sun 21 May
Daily, 10.00am - 4.30pm

Photograph © Brian Brake. Film director Akira Kurosawa standing before an image of his principal star, Toshiro Mifune, Tokyo, Japan, 1963. “The Universal Magic of the Movies”. Life, Vol. 55, No. 25, December 1963. 35mm transparency. Collection Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Gift of Wai-man Lau, 2001. 

More Events at Te Uru

Brian Brake: Lens on Asia, gallery lecture by Athol McCredie
Sunday 2 April, 1pm

Don't miss Athol McCredie, curator of Photography at Te Papa Tongarewa, give an illustrated talk at Te Uru on New Zealand-born photographer Brian Brake with a special emphasis on his work in Asia
Click here for more information:  

Raise the Umbrellas: Special Preview
Saturday 22 April, 1pm

Hailed as the most comprehensive documentary about Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, Evans Chan's Raise the Umbrellas explores the Occupy protest’s origin and impact through the inter-generational views of three post-Tiananmen democratic activists. Screening free at Te Uru
Click here for more information

Seven Samurai:Film Screening
Saturday 22 April, 5pm

An evening screening of the 1954 Japanese historical epic film, set in the 1586 Sengoku Period in Japan, which follows a village of farmers that hire seven masterless samurai to combat bandits
Click here for more information

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SUPPORTED BY THE MUSEUM OF NEW ZEALAND TE PAPA TONGAREWA

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