A new photography project recording sensitive and precious personal experiences and mātauranga of kaumātua has been launched today in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Kaumātua is a three-year-long project created by photographer Sarah (Hera) Tautuku Orme, of Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Whākaue, and Ngāti Tarāwhai.

“With this kaupapa, we hope to bring mana to our kaumātua, read what they share, and ignite further kōrero. The aim is that as many people have the opportunity to engage with this project as possible,” Orme says.

The stories and portraits of the first four kaumātua were revealed and celebrated at Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae, Ōwairaka yesterday in Auckland. They include Rānana Paul, of Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Rereahu; Hēni Goldsmith of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi; Lynda Toki of Maniapoto and Hare Paniora, of Ngāpuhi.

Some of their experiences include being made to not speak te reo Māori at school in the late 1930s; not getting moko kauae because of not being accepted into society at the time; domestic violence; incarceration; and overcoming the challenge of speaking te reo on the marae.

“Everyone has a story to share. Kaumātua, elders born around the 1940s and earlier, have lived through a lot of societal change in Aotearoa. Kaumātua are pātaka kōrero and we continue to learn from them, moving into the future with their words, soaking up the richness of their kōrero. Kaumātua are healers who share their stories of a past so that it will be remembered,” Orme says.

In Hēni Goldsmith’s excerpt, she shared her experience about being told not to speak te reo in school.

Her expert said,”One day when I was about seven or eight, we were at school and a bus pulled up with a Māori driver [who said to] us kids, in Māori: ‘E tu ngā tamariki Māori e haere ki te waka.’ (Stand up children who are Māori and get onto the bus.) The bus took us to Te Paeroa Native School in Bethlehem, about 20 miles from where we lived. We were no longer allowed to go to our old school. No one explained why and no one was consulted, we were just sent off in another direction. Before we got off the bus, our driver said, ‘You’re not allowed to talk Māori here once you go through the gate. You’ll all get punished for speaking Māori.’ We were all worried because most of us were quite limited with English. We never knew why we were being shipped off. I only found out recently that it was because the Pākehā parents got together to get us out of the school.”

Lynda Toki shared what it was like when her grandmother was influenced to not get a moko kauae, a tradition that had lasted for generations in the whānau, because of the threat of not being accepted into society.

“I grew up around moko kauae – they were everywhere. There is just one generation in my whakapapa that did not get their moko kauae, and that was my grandmother’s, during the 1920s. Eleven of them, including my grandmother, were going through the three-stage process with their tohunga kai tā. After the second stage, they chose not to continue to get their moko kauae, because they would have been “marked” and not accepted into society at that time. They were a generation caught up in the colonial thinking process, which interfered with our tikanga. I feel gutted when I think back to this time–knowing that without this Pākehā interference I would have been part of an unbroken whakapapa of moko kaue,” Toki said in her excerpt.

Of Orme’s work, actor Rena Owen said, “Having the privilege of being photographed by the gifted Sara Orme, I couldn’t think of a better photographer to capture our kaumātuas’ uniqueness. Who Sara is allows one to be vulnerable, which then enables her lense to see and capture deep within”

Kaumātua will be produced as a publication and an exhibition, engaging with the communities that the kaumātua come from. It is intended to be a three-year project to continue photographing and sharing the stories. Additional kaumātua will join for an exhibition at Auckland Central City Library Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero in 2024.

Helmut Newton, the German post-war fashion photographer who notoriously posed a model on a bed in a Paris hotel with a saddle on her back, is the focus of a new retrospective in the port city of A Caruña in Galicia, Spain. Counter intuitively, it is a sophisticated showcase of female empowerment as much as erotic suggestion. Stockings, suspenders, jodhpurs and leathers are all worn without apology.

Staged at the city’s Marta Ortega Pérez (MOP) Foundation, “Helmut Newton – Fact & Fiction” explores a career spent shooting for magazines such as Vogue, Playboy and Harper’s Bazaar from the 1950s through to the early 2000s, as well as a mercurial character that fused together playfulness and angst.

A Newton picture can be many things at once: provocative, titillating even, but also amusing and confusing. His iconic ‘Big Nudes’ prints from 1980 are larger-than-life-size and full frontal. Yet, his nudes exude armor. His celebrity portraits framed actresses — from Raquel Welch to Charlotte Rampling — in challenging stances. And in the 1970s, photographing with carte blanche for Vogue France, he invented a bold monochrome visual language — black lingerie, insouciant countenance, power plays and decadent interiors — that has been widely imitated in the years since.

The heavy contrasts in his work were echoed in the reversal of fortunes in his life story. He was born Helmut Neustädter in 1920 in Berlin into a family of Jewish industrialists. Fleeing the Nazis in the late 1930s, he was exiled first to Singapore and then Australia. One of his early models, the Australian actress June Browne, became his wife in 1948. Browne was the template for his later models — striking and intelligent — and, working under the name Alice Springs, had a successful photographic career of her own. They were married for more than half a century.

Newton’s work in the 1960s emphasized his early inspirations, such as the noir-like images of Hungarian photographer Brassaï and the shockers of Alfred Hitchcock (a Newton shoot for Christian Dior echoes “Vertigo”). He soon began celebrating the sculptural qualities of women’s bodies and portraying men as silly, servile, or dead.

In the mid-1970s, Newton met Philippe Garner, then a young photographs specialist at Sotheby’s, who has now curated the Spanish show with Matthias Harder, director of the Helmut Newton Foundation, and the British art dealer Tim Jefferies. In Newton, Garner recalled a friend who “created a parallel universe but rooted in everything you know and recognize.”

It is curious that Newton’s take on sexuality hasn’t come into the crosshairs of cancel culture. “The work has such layers, such contradictions, such ambiguities, this weird hovering between fact and fiction,” said Garner. “That makes it very hard to confront and condemn full on.” And, he adds, “Helmut was perfectly happy for people to loathe his pictures.”

But could a photographer today frame a woman as a horse to be ridden? “Every photographer starting out now should have the courage of their perspective,” said Garner. “What Helmut’s pictures have is a kind of integrity.”

In 1976, Newton snapped his infamous equestrian model at Hôtel Lancaster on the Champs Èlysées. The shoot was for Hermès but, as with much of Newton’s work, the product feels secondary to the composition. As Garner notes, he took “pictures that stopped you in your tracks.” It’s fashion photography but the clothes are bit-part players.

Paris wasn’t Newton’s only metropolis. He had an eye for glamorous cities — taking commissions in Monte Carlo, Berlin, and Vienna — working in color in the bright light of California and the south of France. A friend joked that “only mad dogs and Helmut Newton go out in the midday sun.” Newton wintered in Los Angeles, where he died of a heart attack in 2004 at the wheel of his Cadillac.

The photographer’s fetishistic interests and natty style are illustrated at the exhibition by the inclusion of some his possessions — bondage Barbie dolls, cigarette holders, falsetto-heeled shoes, a travel-battered monogrammed Louis Vuitton camera case. And there are surprises among the works: a portrait of a subtly nervous Margaret Thatcher glimpses a crack in the iron, while a series of brooding landscapes provide a window on Newton’s more pensive side.

The MOP Foundation is based in a complex of former warehouses and silos on the city’s port. The galleries play to their industrial heritage — all bunker-chic and salted metalwork — and are neatly configured around the geometric Atlantic harbor. It’s an appropriately dramatic stage to present Newton and, cleverly, the curators show his smallest works — exquisite test-shot Polaroids — in one of the vast silos. Visitors peer voyeuristically into palm-size soft-hued images of semi-dressed models sprawled on Parisian sofas, New York balconies and the decks of Mediterranean yachts.

Marta Ortega Pérez, whose foundation hosts the show, is the chairwoman of Inditex, the Spanish multinational clothing company founded by her father. She said her foundation focuses on three things: Fashion, photography and her hometown. “We want to push our city to the world and bring the world to our city,” she said, and added that it is a “really nice challenge” to have.

A strong woman reframing the narrative? She could be the subject of a Helmut Newton photograph.

“Helmut Newton – Fact & Fiction” until 1 May 2024. Marta Ortega Pérez (MOP) Foundation, A Coruña, Spain.

It’s time for great photography savings with some of the biggest deals of the year. If you happen to be looking for new gear, a faster or easier way to edit your photos, or a more efficient shooting workflow, here are offers that will help.

Skylum

Year’s Best Deal: Unmissable Black Friday Sale on Luminar Neo photo editor with 85% off plus a special gift!

Luminar Neo is the photo editor for photography lovers who look to express themselves through their favorite hobby by giving them creative freedom and empowering them with advanced but fun-to-use tools.This Flack Friday, enjoy an incredible 85% off on the Year’s Best Deal and get the Creative Assets Collection of presets, overlays, skies, and more as a gift. The offer is available till November 27 only. Get your gift here. 

Topaz Labs 

Save 60% on the Ultimate Bundle to supercharge your photo and video production with the power of AI. Trusted by major film studios, photographers, and creative pros everywhere.

Includes Video AI 4, Photo AI 2, Gigapixel, DeNoise, and Sharpen for just $299.

Loupedeck

Loupedeck, maker of custom consoles for total control of livestreams and creative editing is offering deep Black Friday discounts from November 20 – 27, including their first-ever holiday discount on the new Live S. Loupedeck’s new partnership with Logitech now connects users to an entire ecosystem of hardware and software perfect for all kinds of creators, which will only make users’ experiences more connected this holiday season and beyond:

Imagen

Imagen is the ultimate post-production tool for Lightroom Classic, redefining the standard for photographers with AI-driven efficiency, creative freedom, and secure cloud backup.

To celebrate Black Friday, Imagen offers a fantastic deal! New subscribers can enjoy a massive 30% discount on their first month of use. This special offer covers all of Imagen’s features, including AI editing, Cloud Backup, and more advanced AI capabilities. Take advantage of this limited-time opportunity to maximize your post-production workflow!

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Pixellu

We’re celebrating a decade spent helping photographers do what they love with a sale — photographers can enjoy 40% off our All Apps Bundle for one year.

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For the month of November, photographers can grab our annual All Apps Bundle at 40% off for one year, giving them more value for less than purchasing a top-tier subscription to any one product alone.

BH

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Radiant Imaging Labs

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iPhone Photo Academy

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First Prizes Awarded to a Turkish Photographer and a British Videographer   

BREA, Calif., Nov. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual and EdTech solutions, has announced the top 10 winners of the Photography and Videography categories of the 4th ColorPro Awards: RISE. In celebration of the exceptional talents showcased, the company is hosting exhibitions in London, Taipei, and, for the first time, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. These exhibitions will serve as platforms to showcase the outstanding artworks of both the winners and finalists.

“Through the ColorPro Awards, we have fostered a global community where creators can connect and achieve visual excellence in their artistic expression. This year’s winners have brilliantly captured the theme of ‘RISE,’ bringing forth diverse stories of personal growth and resilience from around the world,” said Oscar Lin, General Manager of the Monitor Business Unit at ViewSonic. “These artworks provide a source of inspiration for us to rise above challenges, embrace transformation, and pursue positive change.” 

In this edition of the ColorPro Awards, many finalists drew inspiration from nature for their artworks, employing it as symbolism for growth and resilience in harmony with the overarching ‘RISE’ theme. Their skillful depictions of natural environments and landscapes express their unique perspective on what it means to rise. Moreover, certain winners earned the judges’ admiration for their adept portrayal of authentic human moments, demonstrating a strong ability to evoke emotions through powerful storytelling.

Award-winning Photography

The top honors in the Photography category went to a captivating submission from Turkey titled “The Return of the Buffalo Shepherd.” This photograph chronicles the daily journey of a buffalo shepherd guiding his herd of around five hundred through the enchanting Hürmetçi Grasslands. From the early summer morning haze to the dusty path under the setting sun, the shepherd’s horse rears, and his loyal dog nudges the straggling buffaloes, creating a mesmerizing spectacle.

Securing the second prize is the photograph aptly named “Rise.” It portrays a woman lying in a field of plants, which serves as a symbol of transformation. Just as plants flourish in the face of obstacles, humanity, too, navigates life’s challenges, emerging stronger and wiser. The image invites viewers to contemplate the resilient spirit that blossoms amid adversity, echoing the universal journey of personal growth.

In the third prize entry, “Caro boy,” the narrative unfolds the inspiring tale of the Karo tribe, residing southeast of the Omo River in Ethiopia. With a population just exceeding 1,000, their survival is intricately tied to agriculture and the natural floods of the Omo River. Their resilience echoes the theme, showcasing humanity’s extraordinary capacity to rise above adversity and overcome challenges.

Award-winning Videography

The 4^th edition of the ColorPro Awards marked the introduction of the Videography category, presenting a new avenue for artists to express their creative vision. The category’s top honor went to a short film from the UK, aptly titled “RISE,” where the artist skillfully transforms her passion into a visual spectacle. Taking her modest budget, which prevents extravagant location shoots, as an opportunity, the artist weaves a narrative that stays true to her roots—one that is deeply personal in its depiction of resilience and determination as she rises to the challenge of achieving her dreams.

The film, “Jordan – Collect memories, not things,” received the Videography category’s second prize. It narrates a 25th birthday gift from a dear friend: a journey to Jordan that transcends the tangible. Emphasizing the human connections formed through shared adventures, it underscores the priceless significance of experiences over material possessions.

In the third prize-winning Videography entry, titled “Why I Travel The World Alone,” the artist depicts his captivating four-year-long solo journey across the world. This visually stunning narrative mirrors the overarching theme of “RISE” through its portrayal of arduous hikes, mountaintop conquests, personal sacrifices, and an unfulfilled childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. While the dream remains unrealized, it sparks the artist’s new passion: navigating the world’s heights with a drone. The video shows the artist’s personal evolution and self-discovery, emphasizing that dreams, though unfulfilled, can act as steppingstones to rise to new heights.

To celebrate the winning artwork, ViewSonic is hosting exhibitions across three global cities. These exhibitions, complemented by workshops and ColorPro Talks panel discussions, aim to encourage more interaction among creators, industry partners, and visitors.

For a complete list of the featured artwork, please click here.

Exhibition Information 

The United Kingdom
Friday, November 24: 10:00-21:00
Saturday, November 25: 10:00-18:00
Venue: Quantus Gallery, 11-29 Fashion Street, London, E1 6PX, UK 

Vietnam
Wednesday & Thursday, December 6-7: 17:00-21:00 
Friday to Sunday, December 8-10: 09:00-21:00  
Venue: The Ants Studio, 03 Đ. Đông Tây 1, Khu Phố 5, Quận 2, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam 

Taiwan
Friday to Sunday, December 15-17: 10:00-18:00
Venue: ViewSonic Taiwan, No. 192, Lianchang Road, Zhonghe Dist., New Taipei City 235, Taiwan

About ViewSonic

Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, digital signage, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 30 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers “See the Difference.” To find out more about ViewSonic, please visit www.viewsonic.com.

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