30/08/2026
Our amazing artist recieved a Gold Award in the Creative category at the 2026 Iris Awards for her entry Z
Huge congratulations and so well deserved 👏🏼
Read on for the story behind this beautiful work...
This image began with a young person.
Aroa. ( Aroa Atkinson 18, young Kapiti based woman was recently awarded the Zonta International scholarship, granted annually to young women demonstrating high levels of leadership, volunteerism, organisational skills and future planning.)
One of the most remarkable young women I have had the privilege to photograph. I love working with her, not only because of what she brings in front of my camera, but because of who she is. Intelligent, curious, strong, sensitive, questioning. The kind of young human I believe will make a difference in this world.
And she made me think about her generation.
My 15-year-old son was another big influence behind this work. Through him, and through so many young people I have been lucky enough to meet and photograph, I see a generation that fascinates me.
Generation Z.
A generation that, in many ways, has been protected from almost everything.
Protected from danger.
Protected from disappointment.
Protected from failure.
Protected from discomfort.
Wrapped carefully from the moment they were born.
And I began wondering what happens when protection becomes too much. When, in trying to keep young people safe from every possible hurt, we also take away some of the experiences that teach us how to be human.
How do you learn to fail if you are never allowed to fall?
How do you discover who you are when the world constantly tells you what you should look like, how you should behave, what you should achieve and where you should fit?
That became the foundation of this piece.
I wanted these young people to look like products.
Packaged. Labelled. Barcoded. Protected.
Placed neatly into almost identical boxes, their individuality softened beneath layers of plastic. Different people, yet presented in almost the same way, as though they have come from some strange human production line.
