Progear and Apix acquisition details

In the last issue of The Photographer’s Mail, we revealed that Apix Photographic Supplies had been purchased by the shareholders of Progear Ltd. This took place on July 1, with Progear saying that the purchase was made in order to alleviate any anxiety that customers may have had through the conflict of interest between retail and wholesale.

Progear has since announced that changes in the group are being undertaken that will lead to logistical improvements, including more timely and transparent information, better presentation of the range of products, and more emphasis on the company’s web-based initiatives.

Progear emphasizes that there will be no changes in the terms of trade for a customer of either entity, and the price list for both companies will remain in unison.

Apix retail customers will now be handled by Progear, while tertiary institutions and resellers will be handled by Apix. The brands of Voigtlander, B+W, Lee, Elinchrom, Benro, Gary Fong, Visible Dust, and Rogue will still be available to wholesalers via Apix.

Taking over the three downstairs galleries at City Gallery Wellington, 30 years of New Zealand photographer Fiona Pardington’s work is revealed in more than 100 photographs, which will be showcased in her exhibition titled A Beautiful Hesitation, open until November 22.

Death, sex, flesh, and the female gaze are just a few of the themes explored within Pardington’s exhibition. She has described photography as a hesitation in time, and uses this concept in her works to portray an unsettled understanding of the world, which will become apparent in the exhibition’s range of intimate family portraits, and her expansive projects involving objects and taonga that she has discovered in museum collections both here in New Zealand and in France.

As well as showcasing a variety of themes, the exhibition will expose Pardington’s exploration of the parameters of photography within New Zealand and beyond, as it tracks her use of different photographic processes from analogue hand printing through to digital.

For more information about A Beautiful Hesitation, visit citygallery.org.nz.