“Can I take a photo of the marae?” - Dynamics of Photography in Te Ao Maori (the Maori world)
This research explores the issues of photographing in Maori contexts and specifically the marae (communal meeting place, often with a carved meeting house), based on two decades experience as a photographer. The research is not providing answers, but trying to find the right questions for both photographers and those being photographed. Therefore, it will broadly open up questions regarding the role of the photographer and the role of photographs.
“Can I” [who are you? where are you from? ] “take” [take where?] “a photo” [what for?] “of the marae” [the outside, the inside, the carvings, the photos?]. Whether it comes from an international visitor staying at a marae for the first time or a seasoned photographer, the question ‘Can I take a photo of the marae?’ is often an alert to the hau kainga (home people). Behind this seemingly innocuous question is a loaded and contestable set of issues related to the act of photographing in, on and around marae, Some marae have a ‘no photographs’ policy, while others demarcate where photographs can be taken. These types of photographic restrictions are commonplace in Pueblo throughout New Mexico and Arizona and in traditional Aboriginal communities. While issues regarding consent and restriction have been written about more extensively in relation to Australian Central Desert Aboriginal people and Pueblo peoples throughout New Mexico and Arizona, there has been limited published material accounting for indigenous knowledge, practices, protocols and restrictions here in Aotearoa New Zealand. In an age of ubiquitous digital image-making, there is an urgency to understand key issues.
The advent of photography in 1839, just a year prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, heralded a new technology for making images, which over the next half century was effectively deployed for colonial projects around the world. Since that time, non-Maori photographers have been largely responsible for recording Maori as subjects of the camera. Historically there have been few Maori photographers, yet photographs have come to play an important role in Te Ao Maori (the Maori world).
In customary Maori art practices such as whakairo rakau (carving), there are restrictions placed upon both carver and carvings during the processes of production. While photographs have become an integral part to many whare tipuna (ancestral houses), photographers are often restricted from photographing within the marae context. Yet, unlike customary practices, there is no history of designated experts from whom to learn the protocols. As an art practice predicated upon engagement with sites governed by tikanga (protocols), the contexts, content and form are impacted upon by certain constraints. Each marae operates by its own evolving protocols, factors to be considered prior to photographing. Marae committee develop protocols and how they are applied often depends on who is asking the question. This is complicated by the important role of photographs for Maori and the ceremonial use of photographs on the marae. The kawe mate or hari mate, is a ceremonial process where photographs of people who have passed away are presented on the marae in the manner of a tangihanga (funeral).Informed by both Maori and Western conceptualisations of image making, this paper aims to explore some of the specific socio-cultural and political dynamics of photography within Te Ao Maori in order to understand how photography is understood from a Maori perspective, exploring what role Maori photographers can make in contributing to this body of relatively new knowledge. How might the world of photography contribute ‘best practice’ models for indigenous communities who may be struggling with reconciling their customs with new and potentially conflicting technologies and more importantly, conflicting endeavours?
“Can I” [who are you? where are you from? ] “take” [take where?] “a photo” [what for?] “of the marae” [the outside, the inside, the carvings, the photos?]. Whether it comes from an international visitor staying at a marae for the first time or a seasoned photographer, the question ‘Can I take a photo of the marae?’ is often an alert to the hau kainga (home people). Behind this seemingly innocuous question is a loaded and contestable set of issues related to the act of photographing in, on and around marae, Some marae have a ‘no photographs’ policy, while others demarcate where photographs can be taken. These types of photographic restrictions are commonplace in Pueblo throughout New Mexico and Arizona and in traditional Aboriginal communities. While issues regarding consent and restriction have been written about more extensively in relation to Australian Central Desert Aboriginal people and Pueblo peoples throughout New Mexico and Arizona, there has been limited published material accounting for indigenous knowledge, practices, protocols and restrictions here in Aotearoa New Zealand. In an age of ubiquitous digital image-making, there is an urgency to understand key issues.
The advent of photography in 1839, just a year prior to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, heralded a new technology for making images, which over the next half century was effectively deployed for colonial projects around the world. Since that time, non-Maori photographers have been largely responsible for recording Maori as subjects of the camera. Historically there have been few Maori photographers, yet photographs have come to play an important role in Te Ao Maori (the Maori world).
In customary Maori art practices such as whakairo rakau (carving), there are restrictions placed upon both carver and carvings during the processes of production. While photographs have become an integral part to many whare tipuna (ancestral houses), photographers are often restricted from photographing within the marae context. Yet, unlike customary practices, there is no history of designated experts from whom to learn the protocols. As an art practice predicated upon engagement with sites governed by tikanga (protocols), the contexts, content and form are impacted upon by certain constraints. Each marae operates by its own evolving protocols, factors to be considered prior to photographing. Marae committee develop protocols and how they are applied often depends on who is asking the question. This is complicated by the important role of photographs for Maori and the ceremonial use of photographs on the marae. The kawe mate or hari mate, is a ceremonial process where photographs of people who have passed away are presented on the marae in the manner of a tangihanga (funeral).Informed by both Maori and Western conceptualisations of image making, this paper aims to explore some of the specific socio-cultural and political dynamics of photography within Te Ao Maori in order to understand how photography is understood from a Maori perspective, exploring what role Maori photographers can make in contributing to this body of relatively new knowledge. How might the world of photography contribute ‘best practice’ models for indigenous communities who may be struggling with reconciling their customs with new and potentially conflicting technologies and more importantly, conflicting endeavours?
