Waitati is a small seaside community on Blueskin Bay, within the city limits of Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. It has a school, a library, a general store, a gardening centre, a café, and a population of about 660 people. Recently, I decided to explore it on foot to see what I could see.
The difference between looking and seeing lies in the level of attention and perception involved. Looking is simply the act of directing your eyes toward something. Every waking moment, we are looking at the world around us. Looking is passive; it requires no effort—we glance at our surroundings as we drive down a street or through a landscape. Seeing, on the other hand, involves perception and understanding. It requires a deeper level of awareness and recognition. Seeing is a conscious effort, an active search for meaning. To look, we only need to open our eyes. To see the world around us, we must pay attention and think about what we are looking at. And to do that, we have to slow down.
Large cities feature prominently in the history of street photography, and that’s no surprise. Major metropolitan centres offer plenty to look at—monuments, engineering marvels, world-class architecture, and crowds of people provide endless subjects to keep any photographer busy. As visitors to well-known destinations, we often feel compelled to race around, collecting images that resemble familiar photos taken by other photographers—a second-hand memory map. This pre-visualisation can make it difficult to see with our own eyes. Things that have already been photographed can be the hardest to see. If we want to capture compelling images, relatively undocumented places—those that seem unlikely to provide good photographs—can be the best places to look.
95a. Sign, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/800, f/5.6, 69 mm, ISO 125
95b. Trees and Bushes, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/160, f/8, 65 mm, ISO 125
95c. Weatherboard House, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/250, f/7.1, 150 mm, ISO 125
95d. Sheep and Tyres, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/320, f/6.3, 150 mm, ISO 100
95e. Motorhome, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/1,250, f/4.5, 54 mm, ISO 125
95f. Checkerboard Toyota, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/1,000, f/7.1, 35 mm, ISO 200
95g. Macrocarpa Stumps, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/400, f/5.6, 49 mm, ISO 200
95h. Shipping Containers, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/200, f/5.6, 68 mm, ISO 125
95i. Rainbow Fence, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/800, f/9, 49 mm, ISO 200
95j. Flying Fox Fair Sign, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/800, f/6.3, 70 mm, ISO 125
95k. Tiger Lily, Waitati, Ōtepoti Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand, Sat. 1 Feb. 2025 (Photo by Mark McGuire), Camera: Sony A7iii, Lens: Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD, 1/160, f/6.3, 94 mm, ISO 125
What’s next?
I’ve finished editing some photographs of Central Dunedin and Port Chalmers, so I’ll keep it local.
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You have such a brilliant eye Mark. I love the Sheep and Tires ..sculptural. whenever I see a dilapidated trailer in a beaucolic setting, I think " retirement dream".
Wow, I love these photographs. And I understand what you mean about looking vs. seeing. The longer I stare at these, the more cool details pop out, like the little house in the sapling behind the Flying Fox Fair sign and the bicycle hanging in the tree to the left of the motorhome. Remarkable detail! I feel like printing out the "slow down" sign to post on the wall here at home. Thank you for sharing!
You have such a brilliant eye Mark. I love the Sheep and Tires ..sculptural. whenever I see a dilapidated trailer in a beaucolic setting, I think " retirement dream".
Wow, I love these photographs. And I understand what you mean about looking vs. seeing. The longer I stare at these, the more cool details pop out, like the little house in the sapling behind the Flying Fox Fair sign and the bicycle hanging in the tree to the left of the motorhome. Remarkable detail! I feel like printing out the "slow down" sign to post on the wall here at home. Thank you for sharing!