Matariki Williams is Te Papa’s Mātauranga Māori curator. In an extract from Te Manu Huna A Tāne, she writes about how honouring the kiwi became a lesson in honouring her own heritage. This essay has been abridged by Williams and its original title is Into the Void. There is a photo on my sideboard. It … Read more
This powerful collection of photographs and essays catalogues three generations of Ngāti Torehina ki Matakā learning to pelt North Island kiwi. Nāu, nā te Pākehā te kurī me te ngeru nāna i huna ngā kai o te motu nei, te weka, te kiwi, te kākāpō, te piopio, me te tini o ngā manu o te … Read more
In the age of the selfie and mundane domestic photography recontextualised for social media, Auckland artist Meg Porteous’s work speaks strongly to the politics of representation. Art editor Mark Amery shares words and images with Porteous across bubbles, via screens, in advance of her show at the Auckland Virtual Art Fair from this Thursday. I … Read more
Things I Learned at Art School is a new series featuring artists discussing how they do what they do and know what they know. In our first instalment, Megan Dunn talks to photographer Edith Amituanai about Mean Girls and getting an MNZM for services to photography and community. Edith Amituanai is an Auckland-born first generation … Read more
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to David White, the photographer who shot Colin Craig. Following a failed attempt at the Auckland mayoralty in 2010, notorious goof and Auckland accountant Colin Craig founded and led the New Zealand Conservative … Read more
Lo, another beautiful book from Te Papa Press! In The New Photography, Athol McCredie traces the memories and modus operandi of eight New Zealand photographers who, in the 1960s and 70s, pushed our photography into the realm of art. We dithered for days over which to feature here: John Fields, and his images of East Cape … Read more
1000 Words is a new series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In the first instalment, Don Rowe speaks to Peter Meecham, photographer of the David Cunliffe log pictures. In 2014, David Cunliffe led Labour to their worst election defeat in almost 100 years. It was a brutal affair. Forced up … Read more
John Rykenberg ran a studio of Auckland photographers from the late ’50s through until the late 1970s. Last year, 900 boxes from his studio were donated to Auckland Libraries. One of the researchers investigating this massive collection of images was Gareth Shute, who shares some of his favourites. My interest in the Rykenberg collection came … Read more
It started out as a love for the Māori women that had been part of her childhood. Photographer Kiri Riwai-Couch spoke to Aaron Smale about her exhibition of kuia portraits. Kiri Riwai-Couch was asked how many people she expected turn out to the opening of her photo exhibition. Even a quick calculation told her the … Read more
Boxers, a hairdresser, a stuffed kiwi, an accordion player, a gun, a newspaper, a lute, and a stack of whiskey bottles. Charles Anderson discovers the story behind this portrait of a unique part of New Zealand history. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine. In the entrance of a thin, dark corridor filled with … Read more
A selection of images taken at night by Wellington photographer Grant Sheehan in his new book The Night Watchers. Feature image: An Aurora Australis to the South throws a red and yellow tone across the rising Milky Way near Tekapo. Nikon DF, 14-24mm lens at 14mm, F2.8, 3200 iso, 40 sec; Mangungu Mission House overlooks … Read more
Te Papa curators talk about the artworks in the national collection that make them swoon. Curators! What do they do all day? No one knows. Certainly much of it is spent in soul-destroying forensic analysis of catalogue numbers; many turn to drink. But sometimes, in quiet, precious moments, they get to do what they got into the curating racket … Read more
Comedy co-editor Natasha Hoyland talks to Andi Crown about how she creates some of the most loved marketing images of the festival. You may have flicked through the Comedy Festival programme and spotted an array of beautiful faces and stunning imagery. You may have even spotted some posters starting to pop up around town and … Read more
To mark the death of Marti Friedlander we’re republishing a profile of the legendary photographer, first published in the November 2011 issue of New Zealand Geographic. Travelling through the Eglinton Valley, en route to Milford Sound, Marti Friedlander suddenly asked her husband to pull over. Stepping out into the road, she raised her camera, focused, … Read more
All week this week we feature books and authors who are nominated for next week’s Ockham national book awards. Today: Steve Braunias gazes upon the wonders of one of the four finalists for best book of illustrated non-fiction. Here is one of the reasons New Zealand Photography Collected (Te Papa Press) by Athol McCredie is … Read more