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kingcountrynews.co.nzz
AUGUST 22, 2024
07 870 6328 469 Bond Road Te Awamutu 07 870 6328
Negatives are positives By Paul Charman
A collection of 1.5 million negatives representing an Ōtorohanga photographer’s entire career is being transferred to the town’s Museum. The collection of black and white negatives and prints provides a record of more than half a century when Richard and Ruve Wallace ran a photographic business in town. Plans are underway to store the negatives in a fireproof facility at the museum. Richard Wallace has been chosen as the featured artist for the town’s Art Beat Festival on the weekend of November 23 and 24. He will deliver the artist’s talk, followed by questions and a mix and mingle, which will be treated as a send-off for the couple, who will depart soon after to live in Western Australia.
Ōtorohanga Museum Director Liz Cowan said the collection was unique and represents more than half a century during which Richard used his film cameras to record the lives of people in the Ōtorohanga District. The Wallaces were willing to donate the archive, but the museum insisted on a token payment. A grant from Trust Waikato helped to secure the negatives, which were taken from 1963 to the mid-2000s when the Wallaces stopped using negatives. “It is a bit scary because it’s a very big responsibility to do justice to such a valuable taonga. It was so generous of them to hand over the collection,” Cowan said. “The collection comprises a comprehensive record of weddings, births, community events and significant people in the community. “It’s such a slice of life, representing so many people, places
and events – very few towns would have an historic record of this sort. The collection has been meticulously catalogued by Ruve; considering that not all photographers from this era kept their negatives it is quite unique.” A selection of prints from the collection will be on display during the Art Beat festival. The museum signed a Deed of Significant Acquisition spelling out the conditions to safeguard the “Richard and Ruve Wallace Collection”. These include keeping the collection whole and together on site in Ōtorohanga and exhibiting the works for the public regularly. The agreement also provides for making copies of certain images which may be requested by descendants of photographic subjects. • Why the Wallaces pulled the Richard and Ruve Wallace trigger – See page 9
From beast to Waitomo cave man
Waitomo Caves has been given hi-tech publicity a galaxy beyond its advertising spending power by one of YouTube’s most followed people. Jimmy Donaldson, who goes by the name of Mr Beast, uploaded a video of his time at the caves on Sunday and it had more than 67 million views in two days. Seven Days in a Cave follows Donaldson through the Lost World Cave. The fast paced, deliberately dramatic video shows how Donaldson and his team led by a guide set up camp and stay in the caves for a week. He also slips in an advert for a toy line which carries his name. Waitomo Adventures chief Nick Andreef said he expects the benefits of the publicity to rub off not only on the
murray hunt
caves, but also the country’s tourism. “His audience tends to be young adults, teenagers,” he said. Mr Beast sought them out. There is a request pinned to the comments of the post, “What survival challenge should I try next?” The making of the video involved round the clock work for a week involving about 50 staff in addition to Donaldson and his support crew underground. “There was fibre optics throughout the cave and they were editing in real time back in North Carolina,” Andreef said. He said the crew spent a further two days ensuring nothing had been left in the caves.
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