Jos is the story of someone most of us have never heard of - a Czech immigrant called Joseph Divis who came to New Zealand in the dying days of the Gold Rush, and became, almost despite himself, a significant photographer.
It’s a labour of love for the two film-makers – researcher Robyn Janes and director, cinematographer and editor Dave Kwant – but also for the two men whose interest inspired the movie.
Photo: https://www.jos-film.com/
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Simon Nathan was interested in the history of the South Island’s West Coast, while Brian Scadden is a photography historian and collector of ancient cameras.
The hook of Jos is watching Brian attempt to recreate come of Jos Divis’s best photographs using the same equipment.
What draws you into the documentary Jos isn’t Divis’s riveting life story, or that he’s some sort of overlooked master.
It’s the pictures of New Zealand being born before our eyes – the places, the people, the change from the posed colonial portraits to contemporary snapshots.
Divis arrived in time for the last hurrah of the gold-mining era, just after World War I. He even struck it rich, more than once. But, like so many successful miners, once he found it, he spent it immediately.
By the end, very little remained after 50 years living in a country that was never really his. Apart from the photos, many of which featured Jos himself standing awkwardly at one side of the frame.
But unlike the modern selfie, Divis isn’t putting himself forward. These pictures are not about him, he’s just a witness, capturing something that will otherwise vanish unremarked.
The film Jos is a bit like that too. At just 46 minutes long, it’s a glimpse at two lives - Jos, and the young country he watched grow up.