Tinaku.

TINAKU [*]

[*] Germinate, prolong, conceive, growth.

“Tinaku” is an attempt to explore the relations between photography and Maori culture growth in New Zealand.

In the Maori cosmogony, all things have an origin, a set of primal ancestors, from which they are descended (Whakapapa). Including the kumara (sweet potato).

The mauri (life force) of the growing kumara (sweet potato).
Kumara, a way of seeing.
Photography, a way of showing.

Like the kumara, culture and photography cannot exist without the light, the sun.

Bio
Jocelyn is a photographer, researcher, and lecturer in Media Design who explores photography as an evolving, investigative process rather than a static record. His work integrates fictionalism, archival research, and embodied practice to challenge dominant visual narratives and rethink representation—particularly in relation to the body.
Through his practice, he interrogates memory, authorship, and identity, employing innovative techniques to question how bodies are framed, perceived, and historically constructed. By treating images as fluid, constructed narratives, he invites reflection on pe