Alyson Hunter (born 1948) is a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

and print maker, resident in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, who, during the 1970s and 1980s, employed an unusual technique of

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

with a chemically modified photographic image."Photogravure using Kodak Photo Resist (KPR): For the glory of the Empire"
Museum of London. Retrieved 29 January 2008.

Life

Alyson Hunter was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, and is the

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

sister of artist

Alexis Hunter Alexis Jan Atthill Hunter (4 November 1948 – 24 February 2014) was a New Zealand painter and photographer, who used feminist theory in her work.Gifford, Adam"Feminist art buys a fight" ''The New Zealand Herald'', 4 April 2007. Retrieved 26 Febr ...

. She studied at

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

, then moved to London to study at

Chelsea College of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, produ ...

and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

."Alyson Hunter: short CV"
alysonhunter.com. Retrieved 30 January 2008. With her husband, Hugh Stoneman, she was a director of Islington Studios and Islington Graphics Gallery. In the 1980s, she travelled and lectured on print making, with Adrian Frost, in America, Australia and New Zealand, where her daughter Amy Frost was born in 1981. She was Master Printer at the New York Printmaking Workshop, and, in 1981 and 1983,

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

, Visiting Professor. In 2019 she moved to

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

where she continues to work, is active in the local art community as well as living close to daughter Amy and her grandchildren.

Work

In 1971 she started making prints with an unusual technique that combined etching and photography, whereby a printing plate is created from a photograph and the plate worked on to alter the contrast, making use of the K.P.R. (

Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

Photo Resist) chemical: this is no longer available because of its toxicity. Her print, ''For the Glory of the Empire'', made using this process, juxtaposes two 19th-century architectural features, the

Albert Memorial The Albert Memorial is a Gothic Revival Ciborium (architecture), ciborium in Kensington Gardens, London, designed and dedicated to the memory of Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert of Great Britain. Located directly north of the Royal Albert Ha ...

and the

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

as contrasting features of the legacy of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. She made a set of four prints, using this technique, of

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, London, and its residents; one of these uses the background of

Camden Lock Camden Lock is a small part of Camden Town, London Borough of Camden, England, which was formerly a wharf with stables on the Regent's Canal. It is immediately to the north of Hampstead Road Locks, a Twin lock, twin manually operated Lock (wate ...

behind a close-up of a

gypsy {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

boy. "Gypsy Boy, Camden Lock - print; photogravure using Kodak Photo Resist (KPR)"
Museum of London. Retrieved 30 January 2008. These two works are in the

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

. Three landscape etchings 1972–72, including ones of Kent Road and

Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the ...

, were acquired for the British

Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...

. She no longer used this photographic technique after 1987. In 1990, she moved away from printing into photography. Her portraits of photographers, Dan Farson and Harry Diamond, are in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

."Alyson Hunter"

National Portrait Gallery (London) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. Retrieved 30 January 2008.

Notes and references

External links

*Official websit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Alyson 1948 births Living people New Zealand women photographers Photographers from Auckland