Te Rua-o-te-Moko Fiordland and Kā Puna-karikari-a-Rākaihautū Southern Lakes of Te Waipounamu South Island have been popular tourist destinations since the mid-nineteenth century. Commercial photographers of the time, such as the Burton Brothers, relied heavily on views of these iconic landscapes to make commercially attractive photographs to sell to customers. In this selection of photographs from Bridget Reweti’s Summering on Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri series, she responds to the Burton Brothers’ 1889 photographs from Wintering on Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri. Reweti reclaims them through a different lens informed by the awareness that these sites hold significance and memories for mana whenua, Kāi Tahu. She hand-coloured each photograph with whenua given to her by locals in each location, reconnecting her images with the experience of being present in the land, rather than ‘snapped and trapped’ views separated from their physical and cultural context.

mana whenua ~ Māori with authority over particular land or territory

Kāi Tahu ~ tribal group of much of Te Waipounamu South Island

whenua ~ ground, soil

He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil (from August 2024)