When was brian brake born

His more noteworthy films are Prelude to Aspiring , director and camera , The Snowline is Their Boundary , camera , and Snows of Aorangi , director and camera.

His best-known film, Snows of Aorangi , was highly praised at the time for combining music and image to tell a story without relying on the voice-over commentary favoured then. However, Brake had to struggle against government bureaucracy to make the film the way he wanted. Frustrated, he left the Film Unit in for England. Continue reading — International experience. About Collections Online.

Brake's early years Topic. Early enthusiasm for photography Brake probably also gained early experience of photography through the many members of his extended family who were keen amateurs. Portraitist Brake moved to Wellington in to work as an assistant in the studio of portraitist Spencer Digby. Pictorialist landscapes Digby encouraged Brake to pursue his own photography both within and beyond the studio.

Filmmaker Brake left Spencer Digby for a job as assistant cameraman at the National Film Unit in Wellington , while continuing to take landscape photographs in his spare time. Brian Brake was primarily known as a documentary photographer; his work appeared regularly in iconic photo journals Life , Paris Match , and National Geographic.

But before heading overseas to work for photo agency Magnum, he was also an accomplished composer of moving images. He shot or directed many classic films for the National Film Unit in the late 40s and early 50s.

Te Papa photography curator Athol McCredie argues that Brake's early experience of making films at the NZ National Film Unit "had a lasting effect, establishing in him a documentary habit of seeing photography in storytelling terms, with opening shots, close-ups and protagonists".

Brake's NFU work also taught him much about using colour film, a medium which was far trickier to work with in the 50s than it is today. Brake was born in When his mother died of pneumonia, six weeks after his birth, Brian was adopted by his mother's great-aunt and her husband.

Brian attended school in Christchurch, but spent weekends and holidays in the spectacular setting of Arthur's Pass, where his adoptive father ran the general store. By the time he hit high school, Brian was a member of the school camera-club and the Christchurch Photographic Society. From Brake apprenticed with Wellington portrait photographer Spencer Digby.

Brake learnt much with Digby — not least the value of trusting his instincts — but by had tired of the flattery and retouching that were part and parcel of portrait work. In he joined the Government filmmaking body as an assistant cameraman. Brake would work on around 20 films at the NFU, and directed two, plus an item for a third.

The Film Unit's short documentaries were traditionally heavy on scenery, and usually filmed outdoors. As a result Brake's skills with studio lighting were valued and utilised; fellow NFU cameraman Randal Beattie has spoken of Brake's talent for "painting with light", and his skills at lighting faces.

It was really a very simple affair. It took maybe half an hour. In he returned to New Zealand. Using the architectural talents of Ron Sang, Brake constructed an East Asian influenced architectural award winning house on Titirangi 's Scenic Drive , in the Waitakere Ranges to the west of Auckland , where although he continued to accept freelance assignments abroad, he lived with his life partner, Wai-man Lau, for the remainder of his life.

In he helped establish the New Zealand Centre for Photography. Brian Brake died of a heart attack in Brake was careful to retain his negatives wherever possible. Disc brake — Close up of a disc brake on a car On automobiles, disc brakes are often located with … Wikipedia.