Christchurch Wedding and Portrait Photography by Johannes van Kan

Today's photograph is about hope, happiness, and fun.

Happy

One year on we have done so much but feel we haven't even started.

We have a new and exciting design for the replacement of our old home and studio.

We are putting down the floor for our new office in town. It took us a long time to get to a point where this was possible but we are excited about what happens next.

Our empty section is being protected by a dinosaur.

A dinosaur at my side

So even though things have been difficult over the last year, we still have a dream. Its a new dream with a happy ending. The path might be difficult, but the outcome makes the journey worthwhile.

After promising so much to write more on my blog here is the beginning.

With a dinosaur at my side I am ready to address what the next year holds for me.

Look out for our new space in town.

And finally, a huge thanks to everybody who helped us through to the point where we can once again see the hope, happiness, and fun.

Johannes

Since May so much has happened.

This year I am a Canon EYEcon Mentor.  I feel honoured to have been asked, and excited about the opportunity of sharing our experience, knowledge, and philosophy, with the winner.

Two months ago our building was brought down under the jurisdiction of CERA.  What was meant to be a cathartic experience turned into a psychological disaster as halfway through the actual demolition Christchurch experienced yet another major Earthquake.  It was a huge blow as we stood there realising that the end was out of our hands.  We finally accepted that it was out of our control, and the process of recovery was going to take a long time.

We left town for a month.  We had a window, and a payment from insurance for the furniture we lost in the demolition.  For 30 days we escaped.  We returned energised and full of hope.

We have started making progress with our insurance.  We have sought out an architect, and the process of building a new castle has started.

Susie (our studio manager) has gone away for a few months.  We are excited for her travels and experiences.

We are back in business.  Our current home is an amazing place for photography.

We want people to know we are working hard to get through what will be a long and difficult, but worthwhile, time until our rebuild is completed.

We want more portraits, weddings, and commercial work.

This will get us through.

Thanks to everyone for their help and love.

Our best wishes

Johannes

PS Today I am thinking about things that tomorrow I will enjoy.

Too many days weeks and months have passed and I haven't even mentioned weddings, loves, or crazy brides.

At Easter ... too long ago now ... we were in Wanaka for the wedding of Anna and David.

It was a great day with lots of beautiful skies and happy people. Anna looked amazing and Kevin polished up well too.

Enough chit chat! Some pics:

Anna and Kevin were married in Wanaka

There was wild dancing

The sculptures at Rippon winery made up for the absence of a church

The scenery still was no match for the bride

Anna

Their Autumn cake

Anna and Kevin

Camera Electronic in Perth have very kindly let us use their facilities for our Earthquake Relief talk on the 10th of May.

We are excited and looking forward to an intimate day with all of those people who put their hands up to come along.

The address is 230/232 Stirling Street in Perth.

Its not too late.

Hearts

Johannes

PS I am also doing a Leica Presentation on the Saturday with Camera Electronics.

Its weird that in 20 seconds the personal rituals built on over a lifetime of self obsessed needs suddenly change.

The dreams of a future get destroyed, and the life we had has suddenly changed.

No longer does the morning start with a cup of coffee and a paper down at the Lyttelton coffee Lounge. The Lyttelton Coffee Lounge is now a pile of rubble.

They came with tanks

No longer does it end with sitting in my office finishing off the work I hadn't done through the day because Ida (in a good way) was too much of a distraction.

Our home - Lyttelton Earthquake

Just in case you didn't notice the crack

Ida is our leveller. She makes us laugh, she makes us stop thinking about ourselves, she makes us look for a future that is happy, she makes us change her nappies and feed her.

Now we have a new future that is ours for the dreaming. We get to start a new set of dreams.

That is the key.

We want to work our way into a new life. People ask us for ways to help ... we have an account for donations. Pete Jones, a friend from school, made us face the reality that we need to overcome our pride and accept that people genuinely want to help. More importantly we want to work our way through this, we want album requests, portrait commissions and weddings so that we can channel our energies to growing and stop asking ourselves how are we going to get through it.

We also are planning a speaking tour around NZ and Australia for April/May. This is to keep us employed and give us a project to focus on. We are adamant that we can work our way through this and be stronger for it.

So with Ida keeping us level and the amazing support of friends, clients that we want to call friends, and a determination to get up when we get knocked down, we can overcome our losses and turn what we could easily call a nightmare into a dream.

We were lucky. There are many people who have lost family, homes and livelihoods. We have each other, our families, our friends, and a vision for a future. Our home and work place might be a big pile of rubble. but we still have a dream.

Thank you to everyone for your support.

If you feel that you need to send us money, we would feel most comfortable if we were able to thank you personally. Email us and we will send you details    e mail  jvk@inspire.net.nz

If you have work for us (even better), let us know and we will rise to the occasion.

If you are a photographer, come to our seminars and help us earn your money and respect.

Many many thanks from us.

Jo and Ida and Me

Today a crane suddenly arrived. It hoisted two men into the air to take down part of the wall for safety.

Earthquake in Lyttelton

It al started with a bunch of guys standing around an pointing high

They broke off loose bits of building

our building is broken

but we are safe thank goodness

Last weekend we had the first of the three Lyttel Bridal shows.

It was a wonderful intimate event.

We had the chance to talk to brides and grooms at a personal level without the rush and busy-ness of  the bigger shows.

Thanks to Louise Anderson, Craig from Lovelight, Jo from a Grand Affair,  Georgie from White Tie, Sarah and Susie from The Wedding Assassins and us of course.

The next one is this weekend. If you didn't make it to the last one ... there's hope for you yet.

It was an absolute joy to photograph the wedding of Andy and Ragni.

They wanted great photographs and worked with me to get what they were looking for.

I have to say that their bridesmaid did an amazing job of helping out and Chelsay the makeup artist did a fab job as well.

This was the last wedding dress to be made by Ragni's dressmaker

... and it was stunning on

... again

Ragni

Andy and Ragni

It started off well but when the sun was hijacked by bad weather and the rain made an appearance we had to change our plans.

Michael and Danielle were married in Queenstown at the end of September. They wanted something simple in their photography. This is the thing I love about being a wedding photographer. Every bride (and groom) is different and we get a new experience with each wedding.

Danielle and Michael were married in Queenstown

We love our job as observer and recorder.

Love and happiness are not things that we can create with a trick of light and a dose of posing. It is a thing that exists already. When we see it, and get to turn it into a photograph, it gets a reality of its own.

For every person it has its own way of being expressed.

Dancing

When people forget about being photographed they start to reveal more about themselves.

Its the forgetting that makes people photogenic.

Michael and Danielle

Danielle and mum

Danielle

It was cold ... but not quite cold enough for snow.