Haruhiko Sameshima

This boardwalk leads into the Dean Forest in Murihiku Southland, an unlogged kahere that is home to tall tōtara trees, some over a thousand years old. The image is from eco-Tourism, a project Haruhiko Sameshima began in 1994. It explores cultural display strategies used in Aotearoa New Zealand – such as those used to market it for settlers or tourists – and considers photography’s role in how the country has been seen and represented. Sameshima’s own experience of moving here from Japan as a teenager left him acutely attuned to the nuances of how culture is pictured and transmitted. Here, he also acknowledges the work of fellow photographer Wayne Barrar, who often pictures places where the natural environment and human activity intersect.

kahere ~ forest

(He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil, 2025)