Yussss Queens (town)

15th August 2019

Often when on the brink of failure a photographic quest flips 180 into an unexpected and overwhelming discovery. We had been on the hunt for Queenstown residents for a few days. Anyone we did stumble across either looked like a tourist or didn’t lure my curiosity enough.

Each morning we lifted the dusty curtains of our cabin and peered out to the Oval (a large gravel filled rec used for sports). It was mostly empty apart from a small window of time where we might spot a few people who then disappeared by the time we arrived.

On one of our final days we had a tip off that there was an Easter egg hunt and all of the kids would be gathering there.

Upon arrival I entered the large hall, which reminded me of Brownies.
It was carnage. Chocolate eggs were being tossed in the air by parents whilst about 150 kids scrambled on all fours, diving and often fighting for as many as they could gather.

The chaos soon calmed when all of the possible treats had been hoovered up and a raffle was announced.
When the hall emptied we were inundated with incredible faces and we had to move efficiently to avoid them leaving from boredom.

These two girls were the oldest we could spot. Teenagers seemed rare. But teenage girls even rarer. They were softly spoken and shy. One girl kept retreating to hide under her hood and over sized shades. We spoke and I shot a few frames before they politely darted off.

The second image (rules are rules) is from another day in QT.

Once again we were frustrated by the lack of subjects. We passed a playground and my head spun to a boy with ginger hair; it was Jay again!
I jumped out and he introduced his friends and girlfriend. They agreed to clamber up the steep hilltop with us to the ‘look out’ point. Breathless, we then clambered down explaining the light was too harsh. They were forgiving as we descended and it was great to see the group dynamic unfold the more we spent time with them.

OAO x