Brendan Kitto’s Documents of Intrigue

Artfull photographer Brendan Kitto describes his practice as documentary, insofar as his photographs are ‘documents of [his] own intrigue’; a charming reminder of the thoughts, feelings, and decisions that take place before the lens, what drives the click of the shutter.

Born in Pōneke Wellington, Kitto has spent his time between Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Whanganui, settling in Whanganui late last year. This shift in locale is what is currently inspiring Kitto, his urban upbringing shaping his understanding of his rural surroundings. For Kitto, photography is ‘really just [about] getting out, looking and exploring. It could just be a wander around the neighbourhood, or a walking trail, or going to a destination; the process of observation remain the same.’ Together, his photographs make up a visual diary, dedicated to the documentation of time and place; how time takes its toll and place holds on.

Kitto is self-taught, inspired by the work of photographers Don McCullin, Martin Parr, William Eggleston, Peter Peryer, Laurence Aberhart, and Haruhiko Sameshima. Like these photographers, Kitto’s photographic style is straight and democratic. A no-frills, head-on approach through which the everyday is rendered significant: a playground set becomes an cephalopodic sculpture; a totemic beach sign pierces the sky. Kitto shoots with 35mm medium format film on analog cameras, taking pleasure in the challenge his medium presents ‘from exposure to development.’

Kitto works predominantly in black and white film which confers upon his photographs a biopic and historic gravitas. Bursting through the monochromatic tone of these photographs is a lightness, Kitto capturing something of the crisp bright Aotearoa air. There is also a light-heartedness with which he describes his photographs. On Instagram, Kitto’s photographs are paired with quick quips that delicately pull out each image’s essence. On Artfull, Kitto’s charming characterisation of three plants lined up in Botanical Gardens as ‘nature’s family photo’ brings play to an otherwise plain scene. This genuine and authentic sense of humanity underpins all of Kitto’s work. It is work that in less sensitive and attuned hands would become barren and cold, but through Kitto’s quite, introspective eye, the ordinary, everyday object or fleeting moment becomes precious.