Title: Jono Rotman: Our enduring image of strength
Abstract: It was late 2013. I was passing through Auckland en route to Wellington, to start my new job as Chief Curator at City Gallery. I had been out of New Zealand for eight years and was on the look-out for something local to show, something new to me that would also be new to the audience, something surprising, something arresting. In the offices of Gow Langsford Gallery, I found it. I came upon Jono Rotman's portraits of members of the Mongrel Mob, New Zealand's largest gang. Gow Langsford was planning its first show with the photographer - the unveiling of his Mob work. The portraits were stunning, but confusing. I was used to seeing gang members in unflattering mugshots and long-lens newspaper photos, but I didn't expect to see them like this - posing patiently, complicit. I wondered how they came to be photographed in this way and what it meant to them.
Publication Year: 2018
Publication Date: 2018-09-01
Language: en
Type: article
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