Te Waipounamu, New Zealand

During my junior year of college, I studied abroad at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. I enrolled in an analogue photography course and spent my time exploring Te Waipounamu with a roll of film in hand. These images mark the first roll I fully developed and printed on my own in the darkroom — a formative moment in my practice. They document both a physical landscape and a personal longing for a place I had dreamed of visiting, capturing my chapters of exploration, independence, and becoming.