Stu Piddington
Young Kieran Scott always had an interest in photography. ‘‘My mother, Patricia, gave me my first camera when I was nine or 10 years old.
‘‘I got my first roll of film to go in it five years later,’’ he said.
Kieran said he deepened his understanding of the craft with the help of local photographer ‘Jimmy the Click’, but never dreamed it would take him all over the world.
Besides photography, the other thing that was a constant in the Scott household in Waimate was music, so it was no surprise when Kieran’s brother, Paul, excelled as a guitarist.
He headed north to Christchurch in his late teens and had some chart success with Kiwi band Pop Mechanix.
Kieran could also play a bit, gigging in and around South Canterbury with mate Brian Graham in a duo known as The Orchids, but photography was what appealed the most.
Since then the respective careers of the Scott brothers have blossomed, and perfect timing has seen them both involved in projects that featured at the Sydney Opera House at the start of this month.
Kieran was the photographer for the book and exhibition ‘200 Women’, which are inspired by the belief that women cannot be empowered without listening to their stories.
The creators of the book were Geoff Blackwell and Ruth Hobday, whose mother lives in Timaru
The pair persuaded 200 women in different parts of the world – whether rich or poor, educated or uneducated, famous or unknown – to sit or stand in front of a plain sheet of fabric and to be photographed and filmed while answering five fundamental questions.
Kieran’s association with the project came about by chance
‘‘I was having a book on the ‘Life of an Angus Beef Steer’ published by the same publisher as ‘200 Women’ and he needed a photographer.
‘‘I volunteered when he asked about teaching him how to take portraits. Then he thought it was too important to just have a crack at by someone with no experience.’’
Kieran said it was a lifechanging experience and he was stoked with the results.
‘‘As far as we can make out it’s never been done before; 240 portraits, 124 hours of interviews, 84 flights, 280 days and 280,000km.’’
The 54-year-old said getting the chance to interact with the subjects was amazing.
‘‘I did a bunch of the interviews myself.’’
He explained that the goal was not to produce a book that was just about successful and