Selected by Photo-Eye as one of the best books of 2012, UNFIXED: Photography and postcolonial perspectives in contemporary art'. Jap Sam Books includes my essay on Dynamics of Photography in Te Ao Maori (the Maori world).
“Can I take a photo of the marae?” - Dynamics of Photography in Te Ao Maori (the Maori world)
Te Kore-te-whiwhia (the void in which nothing is possessed)
Te Ao Maori is the Maori world, from cosmological creation across time into the present. According to Maori writer, academic, educator and cultural commentator Dr. Ranginui Walker, there are three states of evolutionary progress from Te Kore (a state of energy, potential, the void, nothingness) to Te Po (form, the dark, the night) through to Te Ao-marama (emergence, light and reality, dwelling place of humans).[1] In Maori formal speechmaking, the creation of the world of humans is often recounted in chants describing the evolutionary birthing from Te Kore, the void, through numerous descriptions of the night Te Po, through to the dawn and finally the world of light. This can be interpreted as a pathway to enlightenment or understanding. In this essay I discuss contemporary issues in seeking passage and permission to photograph under the governance of Maori, looking at how photographic practices are understood within Te Ao Maori and what this implies in terms of thresholds, negotiation and exchange between the photographer and the community. The evolution and passage from Te Kore to Te Ao-marama applies not only to the camera as a dark passage for light, but also to the photographer seeking to photograph in Te Ao Maori. Through positioning these processes within the ever-evolving progression of creation, I aim to explore the dynamics of photography in Maori contexts.
[1] Walker, Ranginui (1990) Kawhawhai tonu matou – Struggle without end. Auckland: Penguin.
See the attached essay for the full text from Robertson. N. (2011) Can I take a photo of the marae? Dynamics of Photography in Te Ao Maori. Essay in 'UNFIXED: Photography and postcolonial perspectives in contemporary art'. Jap Sam Books. May 2012.
Te Kore-te-whiwhia (the void in which nothing is possessed)
Te Ao Maori is the Maori world, from cosmological creation across time into the present. According to Maori writer, academic, educator and cultural commentator Dr. Ranginui Walker, there are three states of evolutionary progress from Te Kore (a state of energy, potential, the void, nothingness) to Te Po (form, the dark, the night) through to Te Ao-marama (emergence, light and reality, dwelling place of humans).[1] In Maori formal speechmaking, the creation of the world of humans is often recounted in chants describing the evolutionary birthing from Te Kore, the void, through numerous descriptions of the night Te Po, through to the dawn and finally the world of light. This can be interpreted as a pathway to enlightenment or understanding. In this essay I discuss contemporary issues in seeking passage and permission to photograph under the governance of Maori, looking at how photographic practices are understood within Te Ao Maori and what this implies in terms of thresholds, negotiation and exchange between the photographer and the community. The evolution and passage from Te Kore to Te Ao-marama applies not only to the camera as a dark passage for light, but also to the photographer seeking to photograph in Te Ao Maori. Through positioning these processes within the ever-evolving progression of creation, I aim to explore the dynamics of photography in Maori contexts.
[1] Walker, Ranginui (1990) Kawhawhai tonu matou – Struggle without end. Auckland: Penguin.
See the attached essay for the full text from Robertson. N. (2011) Can I take a photo of the marae? Dynamics of Photography in Te Ao Maori. Essay in 'UNFIXED: Photography and postcolonial perspectives in contemporary art'. Jap Sam Books. May 2012.
unfixed_essay_2012_n_robertson.pdf |