'Through My Lens' is a photography competition that invites youth and rangatahi to tell the story of Wairau as they see it—a place shaped by water, memory and change.
In January 2023, the Auckland Anniversary floods marked a profound turning point for the community, when an intense downpour delivered the equivalent of a summer’s rain in a single day. Stormwater systems were overwhelmed, floodwaters surged through homes, businesses and community facilities, and two lives were tragically lost. For many young people in Wairau, those floods are now part of their own lived experience.
Out of that experience came urgency and a need to reimagine the future. Visions of how Wairau could be reshaped to better support both people and the environment in the future surround Ngā Wairau’s blue-green project, part of Auckland Council’s long-term regeneration strategy for the catchment, developed in partnership with mana whenua Te Kawerau ā Maki and Ngāti Paoa.
Ngā Wairau
The name Ngā Wairau, meaning “the abundant waters” or “a net of a hundred waters” reflects the valley’s history as a network of wetlands, streams and mahinga kai.
Artist Sonja Drake, who will be part of the judging panel of the Through My Lens competition, has spent many years walking Wairau Creek, tracing its history, pollution and resilience through her creative practice. Living near the creek and with deep family connections to the valley, her work builds what she describes as a “deep map”, layering geology, tangata whenua histories, industrial change and personal memory. Using watercolour, graphite, silt, creek water and plant matter, her paintings mirror the stories of this catchment.
“The way the pigment bleeds, pools and stains on the paper mirrors how water moves through land, sediment and concrete – it’s a way of listening to the land and letting it show slow change, accumulation and erosion over time.”
Capture Wairau through your lens
This approach strongly aligns with the kaupapa of Through My Lens, a photography competition inviting youth and rangatahi to share their own perspective on Wairau. The competition encourages young people who live, learn, work or play in the catchment to look closely and notice what is happening around them.
Photographs might document flooded streets, blocked drains or slips. They might also capture everyday moments of community life: children playing in parks, neighbours helping one another, or sunlight reflecting on the creek during a walk to school.
Like Sonja’s layered artworks, Through My Lens invites young photographers to bring together observation, feeling and place. The resulting images offer insight into what matters to the next generation; where risk is felt, where resilience is visible, and where potential for regeneration lies.
In doing so, we bring art and infrastructure together to help us reimagine a safer, healthier future for the land, water and people of the Wairau catchment, and collectively contribute to the growing story of Wairau.
Competition guidelines:
- Entries open on 25 February 2026 and close on 30 April 2026.
- Entries should represent the artist’s view of one or more of the following themes: Wai (Water), Taiao (Nature), Whenua (Land) and Tāngata (People).
- All images must be from the Wairau Catchment area (Wairau Valley, Glenfield, Sunnynook, Totara Vale, Forrest Hill, Milford).
- All the participants should study or live in or have a strong connection to the Wairau catchment
- You can submit up to three photos – JPEG or JPG files, between 3 and 15MB each.
- No filters or heavy editing, and up to one panoramic photo per entry.
- For each photo, please include the title, your name, school level—primary (y0-y6), intermediate (y7-y8) and secondary (y9-y13)—the theme(s) you’re entering, and a short description of why the scene or content is important to you. – just a couple of sentences about what we’re looking at and why you took the shot.
Submit photos by emailing them to Wairauphotocompetition@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
Winners will be contacted by email on Friday 15 May 2026. Prizes will be awarded for each year level (first, second, and third place), and overall winners will receive gift cards.
Winning & Runner-Up Images will be:
- Added to Auckland Council’s Blue-Green Network image library.
- Showcased at a community photo exhibition at the Lake House Arts Centre during the Auckland Festival of Photography.(Exhibition runs from the 22nd of May until 11 June 2026.)
- Used in education and consultation events.
