Acclaimed filmmaker and creative Taika Waititi’s debut photography exhibition of seven cinematic works explores a series of different worlds, each beginning in the dark.
A collaboration with EV-maker Zeekr, the series utilises the headlights of the Zeekr 7X as the sole source of light, illuminating seven entirely different scenes.
The exhibition centres on the premise that the best ideas rarely announce themselves, but can arrive uninvited and unexpected.
In an era when AI can conjure almost anything, Taika and his creative team built the detail of each scene by hand. The vehicle was suspended from the ceiling of Taika’s studio, allowing its headlights to shape what the camera could capture.
“The best bit about these images is we composed each scene without much at all — the spotlight, the car, and single frames. From an alien abduction … to a sunburnt couple on the beach, it was all lit the same simple way. It forced me to be specific and single-minded about each scene,” Taika explains.
The series was commissioned by Zeekr as a different way to introduce the 7X to a New Zealand audience, NordEast Group general manager Dane Fisher says. “What I love about this project is the Zeekr 7X isn’t just featured in the work, it’s responsible for it. Taika has taken the vehicle’s most fundamental feature, its light, and used it to create seven completely original worlds. The result is unexpected, thought-provoking, and distinctly Zeekr.”
Spotlight debuted at Studio 230 in Auckland for a three-day event in September. The images are now available for online viewing at zeekrbytaika.com.
