Scott (Scotto) Clarke is a photographer with a difference, manipulating images to achieve his vision. Rebecca Fox discovers his vision often involves family members.
It has been more than 40 years since Scotto Clarke has hung his own work on an exhibition wall.
Doing so now has left the commercial photographer and businessman both with feelings of anticipation and trepidation.
''I lost my soul in the later part of my working life, I made a lot of money but now I am rediscovering something I had lost.
''I'm back where I belong.''
The Dunedin-born man went to the Dunedin School of Art in the 1970s majoring in painting but has never worked as an artist.
When he graduated he headed overseas with the aim of becoming a professional skier but soon discovered he was not quick enough and turned to photographing the athletes instead.
''I fell into commercial photography in London.''
He decided to come back to New Zealand after his sister died in a car crash and tried to continue his commercial photography career but it was difficult to make a living to support a family, he said.
So he detoured into other commercial endeavours and tourism until recently deciding to pick up a camera again - this time for art.
''My passion for the arts has never died. I've never stopped thinking that way, my mind thinks as an artist. I'm finding my way back.''
While he uses a camera to capture his work he does not see himself as a photographer.
''I'm more a conceptual artist. To bring to life the image of the art in my head, photography is the most efficient way of doing that. ''The discovery of Photoshop aided that, he said.
''I'm like a kid in a toy shop. It's absolutely fantastic. I really enjoy what you can do with it.''
His ideas come in different ways, including personal observations. A visit to his grandfather's grave and seeing the way the light cast shadows on soldiers' graves gave him the idea for Mourning of Shadows.
That work not only features his father-in-law Trevor Morris, but also family medals and the last letter his father's brother wrote from World War 2.
''It's great to connect part of history and tell a story with real meaning.''
His daughter Greer Morris-Clarke, an actress based in London, features in another work which endeavours to get people thinking about the transitions children make as they grow into adulthood.
''It's more about what you don't see than what you do. They infer. It could mean something entirely different to you.''
Mr Clarke has also experimented with writing on his work using an image of a Lee Stream landscape where he spent time as a child to comment on changing land use.
''It was tussock country, wild and I loved visiting but I have watched it change and now I'm suggesting what was once paradise is turning into perdition.''
He also tackles issues such as climate change and suicide in his work.
The aim of the exhibition was to see if he could re-establish himself as an artist, he said.
''The thing I most enjoy about the process is the element of uncertainty.''
