Based on countless journeys Veling made over a three year period on the Christchurch Bus System, Red Bus Diary documents through photographs and text a series of interactions and observations, both public and personal.
The book – produced between 2003 and 2005 while Veling studied towards an MFA – comes from his intersest in travel and the experiences afforded by it. More specifically, it was born from his recognition that an individual's perspective of place tends to be shaped by their personal circumstance and routine. Experiencing some of the world's largest cities helped Veling realize how little he knew about the lives and neighbourhoods that surrounded his own home. This realization motivated him to make work that promoted a more active engagement with place and people in order to better understand the diverse communities and culture that informed his sense of the world.
The work Veling produced for Red Bus Diary has taken on new significance in the wake of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, when the built fabric of the city was irreparably changed forever.
Book published by Hazard Press and the University of Canterbury College of Arts in conjunction with Place in Time: The Christchurch Documentary Project.
ISBN: 1-877393-21-5.
Exhibited at Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch, New Zealand, as part of Platform Arts Festival, 2006.
Tim J. Veling
Tim J. Veling is a photographer and senior lecturer in photography at the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts, New Zealand. He is the director and primary administrator of the Place in Time archive.
Tim gained his MFA from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts in 2006, for which the project Reb Bus Diary formed his research thesis. Red Bus Diary was later published by Place in Time in conjunction with the University of Canterbury and Hazard Press, and exhibited as part of Platform Arts Festival, Christchurch, 2006.
Since then, Tim has undertaken a number of long-term projects that unpick aspects of the psychological, cultural and socio-political landscape. Broadly, his work is an ongoing investigation into concepts of home, belonging, place and time made visible through a subtle blending of the genres of fine art and documentary photography. His main modes of output are exhibitions and artist books.
Tim is currently engaged in a series of long-term projects relating to the aftermath of Christchurch’s devastating 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. He has exhibited and worked nationally and internationally and his prints are held in private and public collections.
