An Expanding Subterra

Photographs and text by

Wayne Barrar

Large crib room (deep mine), Mount Isa, Australia 2005 © Wayne Barrar

Machine room floor (generators), Rangipo Underground Power Station, New Zealand 2005 © Wayne Barrar

Kiosk, Carlsbad Caverns, USA 2006 © Wayne Barrar

Design school entrance, Park University, Parkville, USA 2006 © Wayne Barrar

Vehicle storage, Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, USA 2006 © Wayne Barrar

Underground academic library, Park University, Parkville, USA 2006 © Wayne Barrar

Framed mine photography / office, Brady's Bend, Pennsylvania, USA 2006 © Wayne Barrar

Male underground bathroom, Carlsbad Cavernes, USA 2006 © Wayne Barrar
In this quirky but fascinating new book, New Zealander photographer Wayne Barrar explores the strange landscape of vast underground spaces – mostly caves and mines – that have been re-used for various odd purposes. The spaces are simultaneously futuristic and prehistoric (and often not a little reminiscent of the villains' hideouts in James Bond movies).

Two informative articles accompany the book. In his introductory essay, David L. Pike explains, "[Barrar's] photographs capture a space simultaneously natural and manmade, recalling the oldest principles of excavation while also documenting the most current practices of subterranean architecture and design ... This is what is happening in the subterra today; observe it, think about it, figure out what it means." 




An Expanding Subterra
by Wayne Barrar
Hardcover: 128 pages
250 mm x 305 mm
84 color plates
Publisher: Dunedin Public Art Gallery
ISBN: 0-908910-59-2
View Wayne Barrar's Profile

FEATURED ARTICLES:
William Christenberry:  Audio commentary and new book review

A year-long retrospective of Christenberry's work is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. Aperture has also published a new book of his life's work. Here, we share a representative portfolio of his work, accompanied by a 17 minute audio commentary by Christenberry himself.

Wastelands
Dan Dubowitz travels the world in search of abandoned, decaying buildings. He finds beauty in many of these spaces, and he documents them lovingly with his medium-format camera.
Rape of a Nation

Marcus Bleasdale turns in an unflinching outraged report about the human tragedy of Congo.

Once Upon a Playground

Disappearing from the US landscape (for safety reasons): "old fashioned" playgrounds filled with towering metal slides, spine-jarring seesaws, elaborate monkey bars and whirling merry-go-rounds.