Director of photography across two seasons of Stolen Lands, the account of Te Whakatōhea chief Mokomoko, wrongfully executed in Ōpōtiki in 1865, and the whenua taken in his name.
A long-standing DOP for Waka Huia, the te reo Māori series that has recorded the knowledge of our kaumātua for nearly forty years. And camera, then DOP, across two seasons of The Operatives, filming the people who put themselves between wildlife crime and the wild, broadcast in ninety countries.
It has always been the same work: standing with those who protect what matters. These are the films where it became my own.
Three films spanning a decade-long campaign to protect Sams Awa from an Australian gold mining operation on the edge of Kahurangi National Park. The peaceful occupation of the drilling site. The people who stood on the riverbed. The community that refused to let the aquifer be poisoned.
The mining permit was declined. The drills have stopped. The work is not finished. protection of the awa must be ensured in perpetuity.
The fast-track legislation. The community on the march.
The riverbed as stage. Declarations. Drum and occupation.
Locked on the drill. The encampment holds the line.
Three films brought us here. The last chapter is in the edit suite. colour grade, sound mix, and delivery for CPH:DOX, one of the world's most prestigious documentary festivals.
This is the spear point of the work right now. Support carries the film across the finish line.
Support the film →Years working alongside Kevin Moran and Save Our Springs to protect Te Waikoropupū Springs, some of the clearest water on earth, from threats to the Arthur Marble aquifer that feeds them. The independent artist and activist voice inside the campaign, not a hired crew, embedded in it. The Unseen was the record. The Water Conservation Order was the win. The work continues.
A Water Conservation Order was secured for Te Waikoropupū Springs after years of community and iwi campaigning. A petition is live now to expand Kahurangi National Park and carry that protection further.
The first water documentary, made not long after arriving in the Bay. Co-directed with Geoff Reid. This is where the throughline from filmmaker to independent activist voice really began, the film that put a camera inside the campaign rather than reporting on it from outside. Kevin Moran's voice runs through it, the same way it has run through nearly every film since, the steady presence behind the campaign the camera keeps returning to.
The petition to expand Kahurangi National Park is live. Sign it, share it, and help carry the protection of these waters forward.
Camera operator on season one, promoted to Director of Photography for season two. Eighteen episodes across ninety countries, embedded with anti-poaching units, wildlife rangers, and environmental enforcement teams. The work that taught the camera to move with urgency and purpose.
Director of Photography across two seasons for RNZ. The account of Te Whakatōhea Chief Mokomoko, wrongfully executed in Ōpōtiki in 1865. His remains spent 123 years in Mt Eden prison before being returned to Ōpōtiki. His whanau fought for decades to clear his name, culminating in the 2013 Mokomoko (Restoration of Character, Mana, and Reputation) Bill. Narrated by his direct descendants in te reo Māori.
Director of Photography for the te reo Māori documentary series that has recorded the knowledge of our kaumātua for nearly forty years. This is where the craft met the kaupapa. The privilege of being in rooms where the stories live, and the responsibility of holding them with the camera.
A journey with the water, from the volcanic heights of Tarawera to the ocean. The film reads the health of the land through its forest remnants, lakes, rivers and estuaries, asking what industrial land-use and weak regulation are doing to the living systems we depend on. The same maunga-to-moana path this whole body of work follows.
Co-produced, directed, shot and edited. The Tīmata Method imitates the natural reversion process, planting kānuka and mānuka at lower densities as a nursery canopy for succession trees. The result: native forest established at a third of the conventional cost. Over two million native plants sold and 8,600 hectares planted using this method. The film carries a national vision with the potential to return a million hectares of Aotearoa to native bush.
A feature documentary shot over four months deep in the Peruvian Amazon with the Shipibo people and their ancient tradition of plant dieta. A story about what happens when you slow down long enough to listen to the forest. Currently in post-production, seeking support to cross the finish line.
A hard-hitting feature documentary on the atrocities of deep sea bottom trawling. Director of Photography on the shoot — tracking industrial trawlers from a sailboat across the open ocean, equal parts witness, activist, and sailor. The adventure of the chase is woven through the horror of what the nets bring up.
Now in post-production as senior editor, shaping the full feature cut. The footage is extraordinary. The story demands to be told.
Outside the institutional environmental world, there's a whole other audience already listening: the underground festival and music community that gathers each year in the Cobb Valley, where the Takaka runs, and whose connection to that place runs as deep as anyone's. Speaking engagements at Rolling Hertz, Twisted Frequency, Oasis and Yatra, alongside workshops and film screenings, carry the same message to a demographic the campaign world rarely reaches directly.
Photography: LB Photography
Freelance director of photography based in Te Tau Ihu, at the top of the South Island. Full camera and lighting kit capable of cinema-quality DCI 4K up to 120 fps. scaled and tailored to production needs. Additional gear available through rental facilities when required.
Enquiries welcome from directors and producers on purpose-driven documentary and long-form projects. Prices on enquiry.
