item details
NameAuckland Secondary Schools Maori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, Manukau City. Samoan performer, De La Salle College
ProductionGlenn Jowitt; photographer; 2001; Manukau
Classificationcolour photographs, inkjet prints, works of art, documentary photographs
Materialsink, paper
Materials Summarycolour photograph, inkjet print
Techniquescolour photography
DimensionsImage: 478mm (width), 324mm (height)
Registration NumberO.041132
Credit linePurchased 2012
Overview
Even after weeks of practice, anxious students can still need reassurance from their tutors on performance day.
Competition is intense at the Auckland Secondary Schools Maori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival (now ASB Polyfest). The annual three-day event, which began in 1976, helps sustain the cultures of Pacific students – almost all of whom are born in New Zealand – and builds their confidence and pride.
This image exemplifies Glenn Jowitt’s use of the camera ‘in a gentle way; I do not want to affect the subjects or their lives … my actions are all about sharing. I think of myself as their cultural conduit.’