In June 2023, I was offered to assist on the 'Birth of MaeSteal Collective' photoshoot alongside Tāmaki based photographer Ehi (@lilehi_). This shoot was undertaken as the collective's debut output for social media in the lead up to their performance at NZFW23. I have worked with some of this cast during a previous shoot in 2022 [See: Irregular Objects], though this is a seperate entity.
The collective consist of painters, sculptures, digital editors, fashion designers, graphic designers, music producers and, of course, performance artists. Their objective is to cover a wide spectrum of artistic disciplines in an attempt to become an almost autonomous being, encapsulating the queer body.
The primary imagery was shot by Ehi, while I captured BTS film photography and fly-on-the-wall video content while assisting the collective, from set up, to shoot, to pack down.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f6e4dab6-f9e9-421e-94bd-c44fbc80995b/27e502b9-3487-4856-a813-9b855085310b_rw_1920.jpg?h=5aaeb47426a427fad8a3a6da13306834)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f6e4dab6-f9e9-421e-94bd-c44fbc80995b/960819c3-4c51-4fc1-9cc1-f6ee85f7bce2_rw_1920.jpg?h=ff450036f637bf9bdb1f844959c29316)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f6e4dab6-f9e9-421e-94bd-c44fbc80995b/df41e29e-271a-44ee-b1d0-3ca39e82aa66_rw_1920.jpg?h=f625ba695144e556da5eb32e421646e9)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f6e4dab6-f9e9-421e-94bd-c44fbc80995b/7fca4055-b3fa-4c7a-a0f5-a70cd5d3ae61_rw_1920.jpg?h=650f0dd968f30a29b4ee3368579287a5)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f6e4dab6-f9e9-421e-94bd-c44fbc80995b/e5646165-c991-403e-8ea8-20635b1936b8_rw_1920.jpg?h=03ce85e244ae92352b37e357995007db)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/f6e4dab6-f9e9-421e-94bd-c44fbc80995b/88165f85-d42b-4a41-b851-2a6482d13d45_rw_1920.jpg?h=e1f27f1a7f34a136f4314c0ebfbd9e8c)
An interview with MaeSteal by Jennifer Cheuk featuring some imagery by yours truly can be found here:
~~ Additional imagery etc TBC ~~