NZPhotographer Issue 35, September 2020

A Fragile World
by Tracey Walker
When I was fifteen, my family moved to
West Auckland to escape city life. It was
through this time that my photographic
journey started. My new school had
great resources for the arts and dedicated facilities
for the study of photography. We studied with
old school film cameras and used the darkroom
to develop our images as Kodak were only
just releasing their first digital cameras at that
time. Bethels Beach was my local photography
playground and I would spend all my savings on
rolls of film to capture images for my assignments.
Now converted to the digital age, I’m using a fullframe
Canon DSLR with an 85mm prime lens, a
16–35mm, and 70–200mm lenses along with an
extender which I use for my bird photography and
a Manfrotto tripod. I must admit I love the freedom
of experimenting with multiple images whilst trying
not to lose the critical process of photographing
with intent!
Having completed a Diploma in Commercial
Photography at Ucol in Auckland where I tried
many different genres, it is portraiture and
storytelling that have become the most important
to me as an extension of my art practise. You see,
I use art and photography as a platform to explore
and document my environment. Sometimes as a
piece of history but more often as a vessel to tell
a story or create awareness… to portray pressing
issues that have touched me somehow.
My latest series, “A Fragile World,” is a continuing
story that initially started as a narrative evoked from
my preoccupation with the environmental impacts
of our disposable culture. The single-use plastic bag
and the manufacture of low quality throw away
items exemplify a lifestyle of not respecting the
CAUSTIC LIGHT
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NZPhotographer