Jhana Millers is pleased to present a small series of cameraless photographs by Kate van der Drift in the gallery foyer. These are a selection from a wider body of work, Listening to a Wet Land (2022), Kate's MFA submission at Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland which were then exhibited at Pah (2023).

These ‘river exposures’, were created by submerging photographic negatives in light-proof containers in the Piako river, which flows from the Hauraki plains into the Firth of Thames. Left in this environment for a period of time, the photosensitive emulsions are ‘written on’ by the biological and chemical interaction with the river water. These works explore the issues around land use, ownership and the vulnerability of our freshwater ecology.

Kate describes these images as being “made in collaboration with the Piako awa,” suggesting that the river be given a measure of creative agency alongside the artist.