Reconnecting with culture and community through photography
Alex King is a Polynesian and Maori photographer who has carved a niche for herself as an indigenous photographer through photo documentary, storytelling and digital art. Through her practice, Alex has tried to make an impact on her audience and viewers, by challenging the world view on indigenous communities and lifestyles. Alex was born in Opotiki, Aotearoa(New Zealand) from where her mother’s family and tribe descend, Whakatohea, Ngati Porou and Tuhoe. She was raised in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, her father’s home. Her families descend from both the islands of Mangaia and Rarotonga.
Through her journey of photography she understands the power of her imagery in changing a person’s perspective, and impacting the world around her. She specialises in portrait photography, photo documentary, storytelling, and wedding photography. She has photographed over 200 weddings and hundreds of portrait sessions with clients from around the world. She is also engaged in photo documentary, storytelling and digital art. She has learned and unlearned many things through her journey as a single mother, running a successful photography business, and reconnecting with her roots. Her images are a reflection of her perception. She is extremely passionate about social justice, her Whenua (land), Moana (ocean) and the preservation of her environment.
Photography has helped her reconnect with her culture and community and brought her closer to the environment and community. With photography her aim is to bring a social change, which consists of taking people on a visual journey and have a deep and lasting impact on the viewers and bringing them compassion, understanding and healing and to correct the narratives and people’s perspectives created by the westernised history of the indigenous community. She tries to empower Polynesian women. She believes that photography should bring compassion and healing, she wishes to bring these to her people and show the essence of the culture and challenges that the community has faced.
Her images are dark and moody which play with light and darkness. It also symbolises the fact that there are ‘dark’ places on earth and the ‘light’ in the images represent hope and something beautiful and amazing is going to come. The documentation of Mike Tavioni, a master carver who is an important person in her community because he is someone who holds a lot of knowledge about their culture and community. Through the documentation of palm oil factories in Indonesia, she showcases their impact on indigenous communities and the environment. She also likes to take drone shots, one of which is of an island called Mangaia which has an intriguing landscape.
Documentation of indigenous communities through photography is important in Alex’s opinion as it allows the viewer to gain an insight to the reality. These documentations and records should all be done by indigenous people/artists because the history has a very westernised perspective and contains stories not told by the indigenous communities. Since the indigenous narrative is sensitive, one must be careful of the misappropriation of their stories. This way indigenous people can feel belonging from their own contribution.