Tok photographers go national
For Tokoroa teens Taya Ahomiro and Marie Toka the process to showcasing their photography in a national exhibition has been a learning experience.
The Forest View High School year 13 students have both submitted two A2 sized images into the 30th Trusts Art and Photography Awards 2016 exhibition which takes place from September 17 to 25 at the Corban Estate Arts Centre in Auckland.
Students aged 13 to 18 throughout the country have entered their work which will all be judged the night before the exhibition opens to the public.
There are various monetary prizes up for grabs and the public will also have the opportunity to purchase the pieces with the money going back to the students.
‘‘We have entered the 16 to 18-year-old category for photography and the hardest thing was having to name them.
It took us three days of sitting there thinking and then we were told we had to also put a price on them,’’ Marie laughed.
‘‘Our teacher said to put $400 to $500 on them and we laughed because we thought it was just for fun. No one is going to buy them but we ended up putting between $100 to $300 on them.
‘‘If they don’t sell it will be funny and if they do I think we will cry. It’s not about the money though as we just wanted to go because it is our last year and thought it would be cool,’’ she said.
The pair, who were also invited to exhibit during the Matamata-tirau Camera Club’s Sixways Interclub Exhibition in July, said they were looking forward to seeing their work displayed.
‘‘They are photos we took for our portfolios. Mine are silhouettes and Taya’s show Maori culture,’’ Marie said.
‘‘We are a bit nervous but excited too,’’ Taya said.
Unlike the camera club’s exhibition though this time the girls had to do everything themselves.
‘‘Last time we had to just submit them but this time we had to get the photos of the computer, figure out sizes, go down to the Kodak store and then send them,’’ Taya said.
‘‘Our student teacher said the postage was going to cost like $40 and we didn’t want to have to tell our parents so when we went into the Post Office and the lady said it was $14.70 we were cheering and thanked her so much. They were all wondering why we were so happy,’’ Marie laughed.
A 20-year-old Tokoroa woman has been arrested following a planned fight with a 15-year-old outside Putaruru College last week.
She was arrested for inciting violence and assault with intent to injure.
There were 18 family violence related incidents this week and two of these resulted in arrests.
The clear majority of the incidents took place in homes and have been alcohol fuelled disputes. Essentially it comes down to people needing to take responsibility of their drinking.
Another concern we have is over the amount of property damage around the town and I would suspect this is also alcohol driven.
The damage has included the likes of broken windows and smashed letterboxes.
There were three burglaries for the week from which one has resulted in a 17-year-old male being arrested.
Once again I want to remind people that if they secure their property they will not lose it.