Ann Noble: "Unutai e! Unutai e!" Exhibition

12 September - Having visited the Unutai e! Unutai e! exhibition at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery a couple of times, I was very pleased to join a group from the Dunedin School of Art to hear Anne Noble talk about the exhibition, which is running 31 May to 12 October.  Noble's photographs, particularly the portraits of people and accompanying stories, make a powerful case for action to address "the deteriorating state of fresh water across Ngāi Tahu tribal lands." 


Summary
Noble said she had been working on a project on large water engineering projects in central North Island1,2 when she received a "call out of the blue" from Gabrielle Huria [CEO of Te Kura Taka Pini (2), an organization formed by South Island iwi to pursue freshwater strategy].  A series of discussions ensued over the need for visual evidence and building of a visual archive to be used as part of the Ngāi Tahu Freshwater Statement of Claim in the High Court.3  Noble was concerned about whether she was the right person for the job; when she asked Huria why she wanted her, Huria told Noble, "I love your bee book."  Eventually TKTP commissioned Noble to do the photographs, and she worked for one and a half years on the project.  Noble said her involvement the project was "a gift" and "a learning journey."  "I've become educated," she said.

Getting started, there was a meeting with the lawyers, talking about the presentation of evidence, the courtroom environment, language.  Using photographs, Noble said, allows a different response.  A steering group met bi-monthly, and there was collaborative approach.  Four concepts were foundational: whakapapa [geneology, lineage, descent], mana [prestige, authority, power], tapu [restriction, prohibition], and mauri [life principle, life force, vital essence].  

To convey the "horror of degradation" of the water, Noble took on the role of "image collector," using her Sony aRIII and even a drone for some shots.  Noble emphasized as well the importance of the interviews she conducted with the people she was photographing "honoring that day, that place, that time," describing what they were seeing, and building the narrative of the case.

Asked about the image selected for the exhibition poster, a somewhat abstract photo of the sleek body of an eel with two fins visible in the water, Noble said she had found that set of images afterwards when going through the mass of photos.  Noble said it captures the essence of the marriage of sky and water, and the steering group agreed.

Noble's remarks resonated with me, particularly her observation that her work on this project has been "a learning journey."  I think what motivates me most about photography is that it is a way to learn about and see things outside of one's normal day to day activity, be it politics or geology.  Beyond the satisfaction of framing and producing compelling images, one also has to present the images, to put together a story that makes sense of the images.  That requires the painful process of sorting through numerous images to find the standout ones, often when one is tired, and also necessitates doing research and sometimes interviews to provide context and perspective on the subject.  I'm also very partial to the approach of presenting groups of photos for impact (1, 2, 3, 4) as Noble has done on, for example, the wall showing signs about water quality.  As she noted, even when shooting a mundane subject such as a sign, one can compose an interesting shot and make it a little jewel.

Notes
1. Helen Frances.  "Sarjeant Happenings: Photographer Anne Noble returns to Whanganui an Tylee Cottage."  Whanganui Chronicle, Nov. 10, 2020.

2. Tongariro Power Scheme.  Wikipedia.

3. Lisa Tumahai.  "Enough is enough Why Ngāi Tahu is suing the Crown over its waterways."  The Spinoff, Nov. 4, 2020.

Will Harvie.  "Ngāi Tahu’s freshwater lawsuit could be a blockbuster."  The Press, Feb. 10, 2025.

The Claim, lodged in 2020 and heard by the High Court in Feb. 10-April 4, 2025, goes to the roots of New Zealand's history from the arrival of Europeans in the 1840s to controversial land purchases and the drainage of wetlands as farms were established in the latter half of the 19th century, affecting Māori fishing rights and way of life.  The example of Te Waihora (2) (Lake Ellesmere) is an obvious example. 



See also:

Courtney Johnston.  "Anne Noble: A DigitalNZ Story."  DigitalNZ [The National Library of New Zealand].

"Anne Noble: In Conversation (full extended version)."  Wellington City Libraries, Nov. 17, 2021.

Anne Noble with Zara Stanhope and Anna Brown.  Conversātiō: In the company of bees.  Massey University Press, Sept. 9, 2021.

The Christchurch firm Clouds published two books of Noble's Antarctic photos: Ice Blink (Dec. 2011) and The Last Road (Sept. 2014).  A trilogy was planned, but the culminating work, Whiteout Whitenoise, did not appear to get beyond an exhibition in 2010.
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