Lines of Flight 2025

The experimental music festival Lines of Flight has been running for 25 years in Dunedin. It's a premier art event which attracts performers from all over the world. I have attended every one, except maybe the first event in 2000. I was also lucky enough to perform in 2009 under the moniker Tillakaratne with my friend Chris.

For this event, I used my trusty Olympus OM 1 with Ilford Delta 3200. The emulsion was certainly fast enough for dark venues but I was hampered somewhat by a 50mm lens. I also had to be careful as the shutter click was very loud in some of the quieter performances.

There were many highlights from this event (as there always are!) including: Rosy Parlane, Tara Sharp, Microsoft Voices, Alastair Galbraith, Slightly Imperfect, and the panel discussion with Bruce Russell, Jo Burzynska, Jonny Marks, Pat Kraus talking with Peter Porteous. My wife attended a couple of sessions for the very first time – which she enjoyed, despite not being her thing.

I didn't attend the Friday night session (Oct 17th) having seen many of the acts before – but also to pace myself. Lines of Flight is four days of usually intense performances but fortunately for us and the organisers, it only happens every two years. Friday night turned out to be a highlight for many due to the energy of the performances.

Overall, I was pretty happy with how the photos turned out – particularly the slightly more abstract, ominous and grainy shots. Here's a selection:

Lines of Flight is an important cultural event that sees friends come to town from all over NZ to be part of an inclusive and stimulating environment. Keep an eye out for 2027 and I hope to see you there.