Te Ahi Kā - The Fires of Occupation

New Zealand’s Whanganui River is the lifeblood of the Māori. The tribes of Whanganui take their name, their spirit and their strength from this great river, which flows from the mountains of central North Island through to the Tasman Sea. In 1996 I spent 6 months in the middle and upper reaches of the Whanganui River in an area known as the King Country. Here I met Māori who were in the process of reversing the colonisation of their people and returning home to their ancestral land, Mangapapapa on the steep banks of the river inside Whanganui National Park. At the end of my journey I was given a Māori name Pouma Pokai-Whenua. Returning 20 years later to rekindle our spiritual kinship Te Ahi Kā explores the physical and metaphysical relationship between a river and its ancestors, between Māori and myself.

Te Ahi Kã, the photobook is now released under the imprint of Dewi Lewis Publishing. Trade editions can be purchased here. For all enquiries in New Zealand, including Australia and the South Pacific contact Oratia Books. For Special Editions and Collector’s Edition go to my Shop