'Doc' K.E. is an ex-pat kiwi photographic artist, historian and musician. In 1980's Hamilton NZ, she was the resident photographer for several bands, venues and performers' clubs. After 30 plus years of other pursuits, she revisited her work from this period by scanning and processing negatives from her archive and exhibiting them here on doublebass. She has recently embraced digital photography, transitioning from modest mobile phone to a dedicated monochrome camera to document the everyday through 'in situ' portraits of people doing their thing and the occasional scape.
Click on the photo to see the collection
During the 80's & 90's Hamilton Rockers 'Knightshade'
were leaders of the Metal scene in New Zealand
Here are 2 exhibits of the boys at the height of their popularity
Click on a Photo
THE POLLIES @ SHAKES
In the late 80's, early 90's 'The Politicians' were the resident band at Shakes Nightclub and one of the hottest acts in town. Here's some images from a couple of nights were the band were cooking. You might even spot the odd local celeb guest star.
In Dec 1988 The Te Rapa Racecourse was the venue for the Tu Mauriora Festival of Song
Doc K.E. was there to photograph the event and her B&W shots have already been featured.
Click below for her set of Colour Pics from the days' festivities.
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In 2018 New Zealand metal icons 'Devilskin' embarked on their first UK tour.
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The tour was a huge success and helped introduce the band to a whole new international audience
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Doc K.E was at the Sheffield gig and got to capture the band on stage, and delivering the thunder.
Rockin' the Tron in the 80's & 90's
Roxof, The Gold Bar, Shakes, Heaven 17
The Beat Boys, Stonehenge, The Exchange, Gurus
Zaks Band Awards 1990
Top Of The River, Made In Britain, Musicare, Zaks
The Tu Mauriora Festival of Song at Te Rapa Racecourse. 1988
Absent Friends, Zaks Nitepub, Split Image
The Tron - In Technicolour
For this exhibit we have also scoured through the doublebass archives and those of, fellow hoarder, ‘The Participant Observer’ to come up with a full range of photos, ads, articles and images from the days of Hamilton bands playing around the city and touring the countryside.
Back in the day, I felt most comfortable working in monochrome and suspect I gravitated toward events and subjects that I felt were best captured in black and white. I shot in colour professionally only when it was demanded or expected, and rarely for aesthetic reasons. Consequently, I have a mere handful of colour rolls from gigs, most shot alongside the monochrome as an insurance policy against potential darkroom disasters.
Scanning, processing and revisiting the images has reaffirmed that colour is my medium for candid capture and the quality of the images reflect that I think. It’s no surprise given colour neg and print processing was ‘king’ for many years before the arrival of digital. It’s how I, and many others started out documenting our lives in pictures, using those instamatic and 135mm ‘happy snappy’ cameras and tactile photo albums throughout the late 20th century and early noughties. Doc K.E.