The Island of Niuatoputapu

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Saturday, October 16, 2010 | 5 photos

I have been passionate about photography from a young age,
with my early childhood I spent four years on a yacht with my parents circumnavigating the world. I have visited remote areas, and have been inspired by the photographer Tui de Roy Moore from the Galapagos Islands.

When I take a photograph I try to anticipate the moment and believe the lens should capture the essence of human spirit, focussing on the rawness and sensitivity of the moment, I have so much more to learn about photography and long for an opportunity to photograph Butan, I want to learn and follow my passion for photography with the chance of one day turning it into a career.

Last year I spent 6 weeks on Niuatoputapu, located in the north of the Tongan Islands - 300 km away from Vava'u, with the closest neighbour being the small island of Tafahi, 9 kilometres north-northeast. I spent six weeks on this remote island. Shortly after these photos were taken, Niuatoputapu was near the epicentre of the earthquake resulting in the September Tsunami devastating the island, killing nine people and wiping out two of the three villages. Niuatuputapu is accessible by boat with only 800 people live on the island, one school, three villages and an infrequent supply ship.

Niuatoputapu has a strong sense of community and lives by subsistence methods with pandanus weaving equal to the finest in the Pacific. The pandanus leaves are transported on horseback, soaked in salt water and dried being woven into mats, bags and hats. The Island has a single bakery which is run by the wife of the Islands policeman with bread being baked only once a week.

I believe the photos that I have submitted capture the true spirit of the people of Niuatoputapu which remains to be one of the most unspoilt islands of the Pacific.