Michael Bradley documents Māori culture at Xposure

His project Puaki, meaning “to come forth, show itself, emerge,” is a deeply personal body of work that combines wet plate collodion photography with modern digital techniques to illustrate the past and present of Māori identity.

For Bradley, Puaki was never just about taking portraits. It was about giving Māori people their own space to tell their stories, in their own words, on their own terms. “At the heart of Puaki is a social documentary. It’s about the people who wear tā moko and reclaim something that was nearly lost," he shared.
Bradley, a photojournalist with nearly 30 years of experience, embarked on what he initially thought would be a six-month project. Instead, it grew into a four-year odyssey, culminating in a moving exhibition that has now made its way to Xposure 2025. “I was drawn to the wet plate process because I had seen colonial-era portraits where the tattoos of Māori subjects had faded almost completely. The photographic technique used by European settlers had quite literally erased them. I wanted to see if I could reverse that,” he explained.

Through extensive consultations with the Māori community, Bradley ensured that Puaki remained true to its purpose. “Trust was the biggest challenge. As a Pākehā (non-Māori), I knew that if I was going to tell this story, I had to do it right. I wasn’t just taking pictures; I was collaborating with the people who wear tā moko today,” he said.

Showing the Māori in a new light
One of the most striking aspects of Puaki is Bradley’s use of wet plate collodion photography, one of the earliest photographic techniques. Each portrait required a portable darkroom, as the image had to be coated, sensitised, exposed, and developed within 15 minutes, in a “completely handmade process”.
Bradley contrasted these haunting, antique-style wet plate images with modern digital photographs of the same subjects. The juxtaposition highlights both the historical erasure of tā moko and its powerful return to modern Māori identity. “The wet plate portraits acknowledge the past - the struggles, the loss. The digital images show where we are today, and the promise of where we’re going.”

Beyond the images, Puaki also incorporates video interviews where participants speak about their connection to their moko. “The people in these portraits needed to tell their own stories, in their own voices," Bradley said. 

The response to Puaki has been overwhelming, both in New Zealand and internationally. “I’ve been blown away by the number of people who have seen these portraits and said, ‘I want to learn more,’" Bradley shared. “That’s the ultimate goal: to spark curiosity, conversation, and understanding.”

“My hope is that my work will inspire people to look deeper into what identity and culture mean in a modern world”, he concluded.

Organised by the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB) Xposure 2025 is taking place in Aljada, Sharjah until February 26. To plan your visit, see https://xposure.net/.