Ōtautahi Christchurch
Aotearoa New Zealand
©2025 Tim J. Veling
This project gallery presents a small, representitive selection of images from the larger body of work, Pre-marital Bliss. This work was made for the intimate space of a book, where it is possible to contextualise the intimate narrative. When working towards an exhibition or online presentation, any selection of PMB images is curated in collaboration between myself, my partner and, where applicable, the initiating curator or gallery.
A small portfolio of images from Pre-marital Bliss was published in Art New Zealand, Issue no. 136, Summer 2010-11, accompanied by an essay by Peter Ireland.
A book dummy of Pre-marital Bliss was selected for exhibition at the 4th International Photobook Festival Documenta-Halle, Kassel, Germany, 2011. There have been many short-run publications of this work made in different formats and, in the immortal words of ‘dreamweaver’ Garth Marenghi, “all of them [were] brilliant” and sold out quickly. I consider this work a precurser to Dad, Pete, Opa, which under different circumstances might have been titled Post-marital Bliss.
A suite of images from the series formed part of The Naked And The Nude, an exhibition curated by Justin Paton, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu, 2010.