What project, client, or personal endeavor has been the most fulfilling or enjoyable to work on?

I did a series of portraits during lockdown in the summer of 2021, going into 2022. That project was born out of boredom and being at home—given the changing lockdown rules, I saw it as an opportunity to do something creative. What started as photographing my friends kind of blew up into people wanting to participate in this random lockdown photo project.

That was one of my favorites, just because of the community connection. With that summer as well, it was unclear how we would move forward in terms of lockdowns and stuff in New Zealand, so I wanted a more aspirational approach and talk to people about what they were looking forward to post-lockdown, as opposed to focusing on all the negative aspects present at that time.

How was your experience with your first solo exhibition, “Community Service: Family Portraits”?

It was great. I went into that project really confident—it was, in some ways, an extension of the front yard series I’d done in 2021. The theme of that project was ‘community service,’ specifically in relation to Pacific artists. Being a Pacific Islander, you might think of service as family or in a church. But one question I wanted to pose and answer was, “What does that service look like as a creative, as an artist?” For me, it was providing photos and capturing moments that the community really values—and took the form of family photos that people usually have to pay thousands of dollars for. Not everyone has disposable income for that, so it was cool to do.