Michael Bradley
Photographer Michael Bradley from New Zealand specialises in photojournalism. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry and has worked on various long-term personal projects, including his latest exhibition, Puaki.
Driven by a curiosity in analogue photography, Michael wanted the opportunity to slow down the creative process of capturing images. He utilised the near-obsolete wet-plate photographic technique as an original and striking way of showing the resurgence of the art form of tā moko (Māori facial tattoo). Māori are the tangata whenua, the indigenous people of Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The name of Michael’s exhibition, Puaki means ‘to come forth, show itself, open out, emerge, reveal, to give testimony.’ In Māori culture, it is believed everyone has a tā moko under the skin, just waiting to be revealed.
When photographs of tā moko were originally taken in the 1850s, the tattoos barely showed up at all. The wet-plate photographic method used by European settlers served to erase this cultural marker – and as the years went by, this proved true in real life, too.
In Puaki, Michael starkly depicts how a culture can be erased by colonisers – and how, against all odds, it can come back.
“I just encourage everyone to learn more… to talk with people who wear moko… It helps solidify a place for this beautiful tradition and this beautiful art form in our society for the next generations to come.” Robert Ruha
Note for captions –
Robert Ruha (Persons name)
Te Whānau a Apanui (name of their Iwi or Tribe)
Ngati Porou (name of their Iwi or Tribe)
In Puaki, two portraits of each subject are shown side-by-side. The wet-plate medium acknowledges the colonial period of New Zealand’s history and the suppression of Māori culture that came with it, while the digital photos show where the country is today and the promise of where it could go.
The collodion wet plate process requires glass plates to be coated, sensitised, exposed, and developed within about fifteen minutes, necessitating a portable darkroom for use on location. This process offers a fascinating insight into the origins of photography – how history was shaped and potentially distorted through the lens and what this meant for colonialism.
A photographer with over two decades of experience, Michael views this as his best work. Consulting with the Māori people from the very beginning and throughout the four-year journey was a very special collaboration experience.
The video segment draws on Michael’s emotional connection with those who agreed to share their image with the world. Keen to learn more about the tā moko and how this formed the identity of the Māori people, Michael felt it was essential to capture their story in their words – a privilege robbed from Pacific people by their colonisers.
https://www.puaki.com
