All posts filed under: New Zealand

Tuari Dawson – Māori martial arts

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Portraits of Tuari, a master of Māori martial arts. He is holding a patu, which was made by his father-in-law.It was a real honour and a delight to photograph Tuari, and I am so pleased he could make his way up to my studio in Motobu. My goal is to visit him in New Zealand, as Tuari has offered me the opportunity to document Māori martial arts on location in beautiful Aotearoa. For those interested in the technical specs…. I photographed Tuari in my studio with the Sony A7RIV and the 70-200 GM2. The keylight was a Profoto D2 strobe with a gridded soft white beauty dish. The rim lights were two 1×4′ gridded softboxes with Proheads powered by a pro-7A 1200W generator. The background is a black felt on a Manfrotto / Lastolite EzyFrame. On his previous visit to Okinawa, I did a quick interview with Tuari and took some pics of him on the local beach here in Motobu. It is always a pleasure to hang out with Tuari, often swapping anecdotes of …

Warrior Poet – Māori Martial Arts Master Tuari Dawson

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Tuari Dawson has a passion for sharing his Māori culture, especially through the martial arts. He has made several trips to Okinawa to study Goju-ryu karate, and to find similarities between these two island nations. Tuari and I met up on his recent visit, and I was able to record a quick interview at our local beach. Such a memorable experience, one of the highlights of my year. Of course I was in awe at him performing the haka, but I hadn’t expected that he was such as soulful singer! Tuari has followed the Okinawan karate masters series, and has invited me to Aotearoa (New Zealand) to photograph and interview the masters of Māori martial arts. This would be absolutely amazing, so hopefully we will be able to make this possible sometime in the next few years.