Jane Ussher
The interiors photographer Jane Ussher knows a great room when she sees one. Over the years she has shot interiors ranging from Shackleton’s Antarctic huts to highly specified mansions. In this superb book she focuses her camera on a range of rooms that she considers to be beautiful, intriguing, distinctive and unique. Shot in a range of locations across New Zealand, the result is a mix of World of Interiors and the special panache that can only be found in Aotearoa.
The 300-plus images are introduced by a superb essay by well-respected architecture writer John Walsh. A glorious book which all those interested in interior design will treasure.
Massey University Press interviewed Jane in anticipation of the books publication, we hope you enjoy it:
This is a major project. How long did it take?
About two years actually taking the photographs, but the idea behind the book has been developing for a lot longer — photographing spaces and rooms is something of an obsession of mine. Planning the trips was complicated by the resurgence of Covid, but the time away from the camera allowed me to clarify what I wanted to include in the book so in some ways it was advantageous. The two major Auckland lockdowns meant we couldn’t get out of town to shoot and later on, when the borders were open, we didn’t want to create anxiety for homeowners by being visitors from Auckland to parts of the country with low Covid numbers. Suffice to say that we were really under the pump at deadline time!
How on earth did you get people to agree to having their rooms photographed?
I think trust played a major role. Amazingly, almost no one said no. The fact that we were offering anonymity to people whose homes had never been published before certainly helped, but I also think that they were curious to see what the photographs would say about their space. In some cases taking the photographs was a very collaborative process, with the owners contributing ideas or helping create a better composition by moving things around, while in other instances the owners were happy to give me free rein.
How long would you typically spend in each room?
It varied, obviously, but it was at least a couple of hours and sometimes a day or more. Sometimes I went back. As I drove away from Loudon Farm on Banks Peninsula, for example, I wasn’t convinced that I had done the house justice, so I returned the next day. Typically I would spend at least the first hour taking in my surroundings before committing to a shot, setting up my camera and tripod and starting to take the photographs.
If there’s one thing this book is not it’s minimalist.
Correct, though within the book there are many quiet spaces. What I think this book showcases is people’s interest in creating rooms that reflect their individuality without fear, which is exciting. These are the rooms of people who collect but with huge intelligence and restraint so the rooms don’t feel decorated as such but rather curated.
Colour is the book’s other notable feature?
Yes, all the owners seemed confident with their choices of colour or in some cases the complete lack thereof, where the empty spaces allowed the art to be the feature. These aren’t spaces where the owners follow trends and in many cases their collections of art, sculpture and furniture helped define the colour of the rooms.
There’s a common theme to the Christchurch rooms: the earthquake.
Indeed. Every home we went into had had some sort of damage, and in some cases it had been major. Two had had to be pulled down and new houses built. In the Governors Bay house, which we visited in February this year, the scaffolding had only just come down and the builders had only just left. It is hard to imagine the stress of a rebuild dragging on that long. But we encountered an incredible resilience and positivity among the Christchurch homeowners.
You work with your Hasselblad and available light. Many of these rooms are obviously very dimly lit. Is this where your camera’s strengths really came to the fore? I prefer working in soft, low light and my camera does as well, so we complement each other. Working with long exposures on a tripod gave me time to fine-tune my composition and problem-solve. I like my images to have a filmic quality — moody and atmospheric rather than bright and well lit.
In what way did working on this book push you as a photographer?
It used all the skills that over many years as a photographer I’ve fine-tuned: light, space, composition and engaging with the subject matter. Gaining people’s trust was also hugely important and with that came the responsibility of creating images that these very discerning homeowners would find acceptable. It’s so anxiety-producing but that is when I push myself the hardest.
Proud of it? Absolutely!
What do you hope readers will take from this book?
I’m hoping that they will be as amazed and delighted as I am by the scope and brilliance of these extraordinary rooms, spaces and collections.