John Mercer | |
|---|---|
.jpg.webp) Mercer in 2021 | |
| Born | December 12, 1949 New Plymouth, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980 – present |
| Style | Documentary photography |
John Anthony Mercer (born 12 December 1949) is a New Zealand photojournalist.
Personal life
Mercer was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand on 12 December 1949. He lives in Adelaide, Australia.
Career
Mercer was active as a photojournalist in New Zealand from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became involved in and photographed a number of activist events. He photographs predominantly in a documentary style.
Springbok Tour protests
Mercer participated in and photographed the protests against the rugby union Springbok Tour of 1981. He took photographs at three of the rugby venues around the North Island — Hamilton, Rotorua and Auckland.
On 25 July 1981, anti-Springbok Tour protests stopped the game in Hamilton. Mercer photographed the ensuing action of protestors, police, rugby fans, and bystanders. Before moving to Adelaide at the end of 1985, he left a selection of photographic prints with the Waikato Art Museum. In 2006, these images were exhibited in "Revisiting the 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour 25 years on—through the eyes of three photographers", and were exhibited again in 2021, in the exhibition "1981", to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Tour.[1]
A collection of Mercer's work from this time is also held by Auckland War Memorial Museum, including photographs of the third test at Eden Park on September 12, 1981.[2] These were some of the most violent confrontations between police and protestors throughout the tour.[3][4]
Mercer was director and a founding member of The Photographer's Workshop, a collective of Waikato photographers who taught photography, held exhibitions, and provided studios and darkrooms for hire.[5] With his partner, Deborah Taylor, he also founded Cameraworks, a business offering custom commercial photography and a black-and-white film processing and printing service.
References
- ↑ "Exhibition marks 40th anniversary of anti-Springbok Tour protests - Waikato Museum". Waikato Museum. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
This exhibition revisits the anti-Tour movement through the work of local photographers working in the 1980s, among them Geoffrey Short, Kees Sprengers and John Mercer. It also tells the story of a nation at war with itself, at war over rugby, racism, and our place in the world.
- ↑ "Photography work by John Mercer". Auckland War Memorial Museum.
- ↑ "'Both countries learnt a lot' – Springbok remembers 1981 tour 40 years on". 1 NEWS. TVNZ. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
The final match was narrowly won by the All Blacks, but it was overshadowed by the violence on the streets outside Eden Park.
- ↑ Norman, Cushla (2021-08-07). "Clown bashed by police in 1981 Springbok tour wants answers". 1 NEWS. TVNZ. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
It was one of the most infamous acts of the 1981 Springbok tour, police officers bashing and badly injuring three protestors dressed up as clowns.
- ↑ Seja, Nina (2014). "Chronology" (PDF). PhotoForum at 40 : counterculture, clusters, and debates in New Zealand. Compiled by Nina Seja and Geoffrey H. Short. Auckland, New Zealand: Rim Books. pp. 261–271. ISBN 978-0-473-28325-4. OCLC 884745417. Retrieved 2021-09-15. p. 265:
The Photographers Workshop, a gallery and workspace established in Hamilton by eight local photographers, including Michael Jeans, Margi Moore, John Mercer, and Deborah Taylor. Michael Kopp later joins them. It closes in 1986.