Michael Parrott's exhibition at the New Zealand Centre for Photography (23 August to 11 August) on the baristas of Wellington cafés is his first solo exhibition.

Entitled Barista - two lattes please, Michael has combined his love of coffee (he learnt to drink espresso on his Italian travels) with his passion for taking photos of people.

He was inspired by his love of Italy and the wonderful café panaromas by Grant Sheehan that he encountered shortly after he first came to Wellington in 1990. His photographic journey of Wellington's wonderful cafés started in January of this year and as the set developed, he took the opportunity to also take a number of still lifes of identifiable café objects.

It's been a difficult and at times trying project, but the gracious acceptance of the cafés and their baristas have also meant, it has been rewarding. Michael has since started on a series in Christchurch (his home town) and Auckland.
  
The exhibition will also be shown at the WestpacTrust St James Theatre in the upstairs foyer for two weeks from 25 August 2001 along with three other Wellington photographers: Neil Penman, Hugh Best and Clayton Tume.