Ko Amiria Karekare tēnei.

He wāhine toa ia!

I was privileged to capture Amiria i rūnga i te pito i te ao o ia, Ko Torere.

Torere is Amiria’s tūrangawaewae and also holds a special place in my heart too as it’s where I was raised for the first years of my life.

Returning to this whenua to capture this mana wāhine in her best light was an incredible feeling and I’m so grateful for this day.

The piece was special for many other reasons too.

Hōhā with the actions of the current coalition kawanatanga, Amiria asked that we capture statement pieces that showed her mana as a Māori and her right to exercise tino rangatiratanga.

To build on this vision I also wanted to layer emotion into these whakaahua.

As a hoa of hers, I know one of Amiria’s biggest hopes is to have her moko kauae done, so I wanted to capture whakaahua of Amiria that reminded her she is worthy of her kauae and that she was born ready to have this done.

Given the current political environment we are navigating where the kawanatanga are trying to erase Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Reo Māori, it’s important now more than ever for me to help people like Amiria to feel strong in their own mana and tuakiri, to safeguard our whakapapa, so it was a real privilege to do this for her.