Photography
Southern Iands’ is a Photographic exploration documenting my recent road trip around New Zealand’s South Island capturing the abundance of serene, untouched landscapes. I found myself in awe of the breathtaking views, photographed on an old 2000s digital camera, allowing the images to speak for themselves with the slightly tinted tone, natural lighting and blur of the camera bringing character and authenticity to the images without any post-editing.
I wanted these images to convey the cultural significance in connection to the land of traditional owners. The Māori term for land, whenua, also means placenta and the term for people, tangata whenua, means born of the earth’s womb. With these beliefs and the understanding that land is permanent and human life is transient, Māori considered their association with land more in terms of ‘belonging to’ rather than ‘owning’. They also believe in a spiritual realm that is intertwined with the physical world, and they hold a strong connection to the natural world, including the land, sea, and sky. This connection is evident in their creation stories, which tell of the gods who created the world and all its creatures.
