ANN ORMAN
NEKE MOA (from the series Flying under the radar)
3 years. 34 artists. I wanted to expose to the world the lesser known yet incredibly creative women of Aotearoa, artists happier ‘flying under the radar’. I wanted to unmask these women and allow the world to see them, to discover their journeys, their struggles, their creative endeavours, their Spirit.
Meet Neke Moa
There are very few female pounamu carvers in NZ.
For twelve years Neke had been living in the mountains. Now she resides by the ocean.
Her mana, mahi , and pono are incredibly powerful. Her commitment to self and her culture unwaivering. Working with a range of elements found on the land, she carves them into exquisite creations representing stories of the past, whilst also encouraging other Maori women to find their own creative callings. She is one of the most powerful women I have encountered.
Neke is one of 34 artists in the book ‘Spirit: Conversations With Creative Women’.
Publishing Oct 2021
ANN ORMAN
I'm a product of the 70's, a kid obsessed with ripping images out of magazines and pasting them into scrapbooks - some of the greatest photographers of our time. Including all the images I could find of the moon landing - all pasted into a giant red scrapbook. I really wish I'd kept all that stuff. I loved the clean, simple lines and their iconic nature - not that I was aware of that back then. But I knew what I liked. And damn was I organised (maybe even a little OCD). But then I did grow up with parents who were scientists... which was pretty hard when you're a creative. My dad was obsessed with photography too (and OCD doesn't begin to describe his organisational skills!). I still have a tonne of old leather suitcases filled with his old photos and slides still to be sorted through.
I'm obsessed with photography. Strong, clean, uncomplicated images.
But my passion for making this my career didn’t kick in 'till my 30’s. I spent my 20's and most of my 30's in the corporate world...slowly extricating myself from what I call 'the Matrix'. In my 30's I started shooting in B&W film...I lived in the dark room every weekend just shooting and developing and often would hand print my work onto fibre based paper. After having several fine art exhibitions, it was time to make this my career so I sold everything and moved to Paris to study photography and live in a city I'd been fascinated with for years. In the 2 years I was there I travelled a lot, including 3 months through Africa in an old truck that had been converted into a bus. Seventeen of us....covering 16,000kms. You can see what I saw from the window of that bus under Stories - 'Views from a bus'.
For me photography is all about connection.
Being adopted meant a constant search for connection - to myself and others. So I'm passionate about creating images that connect people to themselves. For me, a great image makes me want to stop.....breathe.....and really soak in what's there. To feel something I've never felt before.
That's what I want my photography to do for others.