The Arts

Mark Adams is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s foremost photographers. His focus on Samoan tatau, Māori–Pākehā interactions in Rotorua, carved meeting houses, locations of significance for Ngāi Tahu in Te Waipounamu, and Captain James Cook’s landing sites reflect his deep engagement with our postcolonial and Pacific histories.

This first-ever comprehensive survey of his work honours one of our most distinguished — and continually compelling — photographers. It includes photographs taken across the Pacific, the United Kingdom and Europe that explore the migration of artistic and cultural practices across the globe, and examine the role of museums, and photography itself, in this dynamic and ongoing cross-cultural exchange.

Dr Sarah Farrar is head of curatorial and learning at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Published by Massey University Press 2025.

Shortlisted for the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

The Auckland Festival of Photography is a city-wide contemporary art and cultural event which takes place within Auckland's major galleries, project spaces, non-gallery venues and public sites during June each year. The programme includes a mix of emerging and established artists and comprises existing works and the creation of new work. The Waterloo Foundation NZ Arts provides ongoing support for the festival through our affiliated venture fotofest-apps.com (creating and managing an online guide) and prior to this as a sponsor for the annual commission.