The Tranquility of Solitude
Derek Henderson
Text and photographs by Derek Henderson
Poetry by David Merritt
Published by Compound Press, May 2025
Softcover, 152 pages
ISBN 9781991154156
Available with one of two limited edition prints.
A photographic journey through the backroads of living differently. Acclaimed photographer Derek Henderson encounters and chronicles the nomadic life of Fergus and his horse Flex on the rugged West Coast of Te Waipounamu / the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. This collection of images chart a lifestyle that seems to strip away the complexities of modern living and yet reflects a complex approach to individuality and participation in society.
"This book came about while I was staying in a small cabin on the isolated West Coast of Te Waipounamu / the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. I was driving into Greymouth one late afternoon and noticed a man walking his horse in the other direction. I didn’t turn the car around immediately, but about a kilometre further down the road, I began to wondering who the person was and where he and his horse were going."
Includes an introduction by the artist and a new poem by the famously nomadic David Merritt: ‘Man is a beast of burden: or, death comes soon enough, I’m in no hurry’.