27 Mar 2017

Dave Dobbyn the photographer

From Afternoons, 2:20 pm on 27 March 2017

Kiwi music legend Dave Dobbyn says he's a little nervous about sharing his other talent - photography.

"As it's not my main bag, I feel like I'm cheating a bit."

Dobbyn was turned on to photography through cinema - at 15, he got the job of projector's assistant in the small community of Tuakau where he was at boarding school.

He says he was especially inspired by the Vietnam War correspondents on the newsreels.

"Guys who risked their lives to go and shoot nothing but film, instead of other people - I thought 'What's going in their heads?"

Later he picked up skills from photographer friends like Robin Morrison and "studied up a bit" on his own.

Photography has been a big part of Dobby'ns trips to Zimbabwe, Morocco, and Antarctica, which he visited in 2010 with some other artists including photographer Laurence Aberhart and sculptor Joe Sheehan.

When taking photos, he says he tries to capture the 'feel'.

"Nothing quite like a little stroll, and maybe the sky is a certain way or a landscape might hit you or a building or the corner of something... I love it."