From the long lens of experience
If you spot an old gent toting a long-lens camera and wearing a gold-coloured bib at the All BlacksLions rugby test in Wellington next month, odds are that it will be Peter Bush.
Former New Zealand Rugby chairman Jock Hobbs awarded Bush his ‘‘golden bib’’ in 2002. It gave the esteemed photographer sideline access to any home test match for the rest of his life.
The Lions’ return is a big deal for Bush. One of his fondest memories relating to the oval-balled game is the Lions tour of 1971.
‘‘That Lions team was amazing. That tour really electrified me and the game in New Zealand. They were such good players on the field and great people off it.’’
Bush is from the photography ‘‘old school’’. He can light up a conversation with an anecdote that might not have made it to film but was etched indelibly in his mind.
He recalls taking photos of the All Blacks in the halftime huddle during a test against Australia in 1964. He grabbed one of the team’s orange segments for himself only for Colin Meads (or Piney, as Bush calls him) to turn around and say: ‘‘I didn’t see you pushing in the scrum, Bushy.’’
Bush also recalls standing on the sideline next to Fred Allen at the 1966 All Black trials when Allen pointed at a No 8 player and said: ‘‘See that guy there, I’m going to make him All Black captain.’’
That No 8 was All Blacks great Brian Lochore.
Lochore remembers Bush asking to take a few photos of him and Meads when they went for a jog up Brooklyn Hill in Wellington in 1970.
‘‘He followed us in his car and would drive up ahead before jumping from the car to take a photo, before sprinting off up the road to take another and then run back down to the car,’’ Lochore said.
‘‘Bushy was the only photographer allowed in the changing rooms when I was an All Blacks coach. He was one of few people in the media I considered a friend, we knew we could trust him.’’
Bush stressed that he was a photographer first and foremost. It irked him that he was thought of as primarily a rugby photographer.
‘‘I have been fascinated over the years with a lot more than rugby. Though rugby did give me the freedom to pursue my interests outside of it. I’m thankful for that but I always enjoyed playing rugby more than photographing it.’’
The technological changes were something he thought a lot about. When he started out, Bush said, you would go to a sports game with only 36 plates so you had to be very careful about what you photographed. Even when film came along later, you might take 90 pictures at a game.
‘‘These days you see a photographer take 90 pictures in the first 10 minutes.’’
A selection of Bush’s work will soon go on show in Masterton. Hard On The Heels can be seen at Aratoi, Wairarapa Museum Of Art And History, from June 3 to July 9.
"Bushy was one of few people in the media I considered a friend, we knew we could trust him." Former All Blacks coach Brian Lochore