Old Bones and Bees

New Zealand is often regarded as a land of plenty, a distant utopia offering an enviable and idyllic lifestyle. With its small population and isolated islands, the country can feel like a microcosm of the wider world. Environmental pressures intersect with the expansion of corporate forestry, a move away from traditional farming and agriculture, and the steady spread of suburbanisation into the countryside. The dream of the affordable quarter-acre section is being replaced by something beyond reach, uncertain and unresolved.

Will Green has spent more than 25 years visiting New Zealand, and in 2018, he began working on his “Old Bones and Bees” project. Through his work, Green explores themes of loss and transformation, suggesting that old identities and ways of life are being mourned in a society struggling with the complexities of contemporary growth.