New Community Photography Space Makes Art More Accessible Than Ever

Non-profit community photography organisation Photosynthesis is moving into a bigger and better space, tripling the size of its facilities and creating the only dedicated photography exhibition gallery in Christchurch.

The launch of Photosynthesis’s new home, 6 Battersea St in Sydenham, will be celebrated with Open, an exhibition providing a cross-section of all the forms of photographic art created by people in our city. All are welcome to submit and every artist will have at least one piece in the exhibition — showing the diversity of the visual art narratives made by people from all walks of life.

The new building and exhibition will open to the public on February 21st next year.

Since 2022, Photosynthesis has operated from St Asaph Street, providing facilities and tools to photographers around Ōtautahi Christchurch. It’s also built a strong community through social events and subsidised lessons, sharing knowledge and building relationships. It operates New Zealand’s only rentable community-led darkroom and studio space.

Growth in the community and calls for a dedicated photography exhibition space meant it was time for Photosynthesis to scale up. It’s moving from three units of 80m2 in total, to one massive 240m2 space.

The shift will allow Photosynthesis to double the size of its studio and darkroom, create a dedicated photography exhibition space, and provide professional-level tools such as digital editing stations, printing equipment and a lending library of photographic film cameras to members of the public.

Director Kieran Haymes said the organisation existed to make photography more accessible throughout Ōtautahi Christchurch.

“Photography can be a solitary art form, but we see the benefit people get from sharing their work and ideas, being inspired by others and feeling a sense of belonging.

“For the last 3 years we’ve been running workshops, pop-up exhibitions and artist residencies which bring people together to learn, share and connect. The new space will be a home for photography in Christchurch — open for anyone to engage with visual art made using light.

“You can do everything in one space: shoot images, edit them, print and exhibit — whether shooting using a digital camera or using analog photographic film.”

The new space has enabled Photosynthesis to upgrade and expand its existing facilities and assets, but also create new ones.

“We’re preparing to launch an analog camera lending library, open a store to sell the work that our community makes, and create a lounge space for connecting with people that share creative passions surrounded by fine art.”

Photosynthesis operates on user payments heavily subsidised by community grants. It costs only $7.50 to use the darkroom for 30 minutes, and studio use starts at $99 for 2 hours. There are also membership options to make it more affordable for regular users.

“Professional level tools and equipment can be prohibitively expensive for individuals to buy, especially when you are starting out or experiencing pressures from the cost of living.

“We have budgeted for the new space with current usage numbers, so even though the darkroom and studio will double in size, we are keeping the same pricing.”

Photosynthesis has held exhibitions in the past, but the new exhibition hall will allow it to share much more of what the community has created.

“You’ll be able to come at any time and know you will see high-quality visual art made by local artists. Our panel of volunteer curators work with submitting artists to make it all happen, leading to more exhibitions of people from all backgrounds telling their stories to our city through their work.

“We’ll launch our new exhibition space with Open, exposing the current state of photographic art in Ōtautahi to the people of the city in which it was made — much like the taking of a photograph itself.

“We chose the name ‘Open’ to reflect not only that it is the opening of this space, but that it is open to everyone and every piece of art made using light — prints, zines, books, anthotypes, digital or film photography.”

Submissions for Open are currently being accepted here: https://www.photosynthesis.nz/submission-open-2026

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