My photographic practice has been based around that of being an observer, of light, the moment and life. I aim to capture these in camera with little or no post processing, using a combination of film and digital in both colour and black and white.
This series has been created around the coastal community of Ngawi (pronounced ‘naa-wee’), a small fishing village which is located just five kilometres from Cape Palliser, the southernmost point of New Zealand’s North Island. Known for having more bulldozers per capita than permanent residents this project scratches the hard-male surface and discovers what is holding the community together, the very backbone under the shell.
The location is exposed, with intense and prolonged periods of high winds and heat during the summer months. With very few trees, what kind of person is prepared to endure these conditions? Only the strongest it seems.
Through eight women I have explored the relationship between the land, space and the community who inhabit it. I have tried to capture a feeling of the location through landscape, portraits and still life, showing the hard conditions and the environment which gives a feeling of isolation, hardship, but also the softer side of these women that through their own strength hold the community together by making do and sticking together to support each other.
This series has been produced using platinum and palladium a technique that can be traced back to the 1830s which is only slightly older than lineage of some of the residence of Ngawi who can trace their ancestors back to one of the first boats to arrive in New Zealand. This technique provides a durability to the image that standard silver gelatin cannot. These images are all handmade and unique, one-offs that can never be reproduced. The combination of both platinum and palladium offers the warm tones that give a different dimension to the image and reflect the warmth of the Ngawi community and the women that make this place a home.
Michele Usher is a New Zealand based photographer. Her love of photography started at an early age within the darkroom and has progressed to a combination of both analogue and digital techniques. She has a love of travel and landscape photography, but this has grown to include documentary and social aspects and a growing awareness of the use of photography and the arts to help and support communities through difficulties such as mental health to help drive change and increase awareness.
She has taken part in several joint exhibitions and is an accredited Photography Society of New Zealand judge. In 2014 she started on her journey to a formal degree with the Open College of the Arts.
For her latest project she has turned her back on the often considered traditional but cold black and white silver gelatin images of documentary photography to focus on the alternative printing method of platinum and palladium. The warm tones of this technique soften the harsh environment of the East coast of New Zealand known for its bulldozers, cray fish, and lighthouse. The process lends itself well to the location as many can trace their lineage back to just after the process was developed in the 1930s.
Michele has explored this location that is exposed to both extreme heat and high cold winds from the Antarctic which leaves little vegetation where only the hardy can survive. She has focused on the core of this community, one could say the softer side, those that hold things together and are often not seen but are beneath the shell of this village – the women. The images offer a glimpse into their lives and offers the warmth and detail that is not usually seen.