Auckland-born artist Wayne Wilson-Wong
worked as a professional photographer in New Zealand and the UK
from 1990-2000, contributing news, sports and features photography
to a wide array of newspaper and magazine publications including
The Times UK & Sunday Times, The Guardian, Reuters News Agency,
The New Zealand Herald, Metro and Mana Magazine. Diverse
assignments allowed Wilson-Wong to travel extensively throughout
Europe, Scandinavia, and North America, gaining experience and
developing his style. On returning to New Zealand, Wilson-Wong
lectured photography on a part-time basis for Bachelor of Fine Arts
students at Auckland's Whitecliffe School of Art and Design before
pursuing his studies at Auckland University's Elam School of Fine
Arts. Having graduated Elam with a Master of Fine Arts (First Class
Honours) in 2003, he is now engaged in the Fine Arts doctoral
programme.
Wilson-Wong's unique and vibrant rendering of colour owes its
existence in part to his mastery of a form of digital low light
exposure that extends the possibilities of conventional imaging at
night. Stemming from a foundation of social documentary, his
photography combines the aesthetic primacy of this sumptuous colour
and sharp form with the underlying anthropological, historical and
sociological concerns of this style of reportage. As he
elaborates,
"I have always had a drive to photograph the present for future
generations to consider in retrospect. My practice operates within
the genre of Social Documentary with subject matter mainly focusing
on people and environments. My photographs strive to represent a
certain subjective and interpretive quality of authenticity felt as
we experience the world in which we find ourselves."