Wind Turbine Technician

For the past 6 months I have been working on a long-term documentary project about people who do unique and interesting professions. This project allows me to produce the reportage/documentary work I am passionate about, while simultaneously being easy enough to fit around my day job. The most difficult thing about doing documentary work is one, finding the time and/or resources need to work on documentary projects (i.e. some subject matter might require a persistent approach to build relationships with people before even lifting up your camera), and two, pitching the project idea and gaining access to the organisation and or community you wish to photograph. Hence the reason for me choosing the above subject.

The images below are the first set of images I have completed for this project and were exhibited at Kaititiro Collective’s first exhibition at Thistle Hall (see previous post).

The consistent winds on the Makara coast provide an ideal location for Meridian Energy’s wind farm development on the edge of the Cook Straight. With 40 metre-long blades, each turbine is capable of generating 2.3 megawatts of power, and the West Wind site is capable of producing enough power to supply 70,000 homes. Daryn Te Kere, one of several turbine technicians at the West Wind site, performs scheduled maintenance on one of 62 wind turbines. It is a calm and crisp winter’s day on the Makara coast, and as Daryn remarks, from 67 metres up, the work of a wind turbine technician affords “some of the best views in the world”. More of the images from this project can be viewed here.