Veronica
Veronica Crockford-Pound
Caker Crush
I have known Veronica Crockford-Pound since high school, and I adore the fact that today we work together on a regular basis. VCP, as I like to call her, is a genius wizard behind the camera and has shot many a project for The Caker. Eli visited her at her home on Auckland’s North Shore where she expertly turned two of my Flourless Dark Chocolate Gold Leaf cake kits into a luxe tiered cake, lathered with dark chocolate ganache, dried rose petals and gold candles. Her partner in crime and lover Joseph Griffen shot her on film as she worked her magic.
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Tell me a little bit about yourself! You can talk about anything at all…
I’m Veronica aka Pictvre. I work in the fashion industry making films / taking photos with collaborators. I went grey in my 20's.
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What star sign are you and which traits from it resonate with you?
I’m a Virgo through and through – a perfectionist on the constant quest for improvement. We sound like the most boring and uptight people of the zodiac. No one ever talks about Virgo humour, but pretty much all my besties are Virgos and we are very performative story-tellers.
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When you first started taking photos, what sort of things would you capture?
I made videos at art school. I started off doing pretty silly performance videos. One was trying to fit into various sized cardboard boxes then dragging myself off screen. Then I became obsessed with making videos based on Baroque still life paintings - like filming my cat Sergio eating salmon in the style of Goya.
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Tell us the story of how Pictvre came to be!
I got out of art school and tried to get into film industry/ advertising. It is such a male-dominated space. Even now, over a decade later, womxn only make up a very small percentage of directors represented by production agencies.
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What are you listening to at the moment? (it could be an album, or a podcast)
Half Queen’s Treasure Box - Spotify playlist (another one of your Caker Crushes!).
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Do you like to cook/bake? Do you have a special dish?
I used to be hyper-critical of my cooking abilities (see Virgo above) and panic if I had to cook for more than 3 people (I’m an only child from a fairly reclusive family). Now I have way more fun with it. My partner Joe and I make pasta and sourdough now which makes me feel like I could cook anything. So dorky.
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What do you put on your toast in the morning?
Peanut butter. Every morning.
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What is the dessert of your dreams?
Pudding!
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Who (or what) is your dream photo subject?
It’s more about the entire team for me – friends/ collaborators working together to make a picture or a film. But also Rob Tennent (another one of the Caker Crushes).
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You keep some beautiful pieces of art in your house, tell us about one that is particularly special to you?
We’ve just bought a photograph by Cao Yun from their show Command&Conquer at Parasite gallery on Krd. It’s a small photograph of the seam of a tomato - super sexy.