The landscape was shapeshifted by the building of the dams along the Waitaki. Land that was once land became water. Lakes appeared, brimming at a dam edge 100m higher than the river below, water was controlled to create electricity for a growing nation.

And people inhabited this new landscape in new ways. Recreational water sports grew, campsites popped up, wetlands were developed, walkways created, trees planted on the new lake shores.

I was exploring the way the landscape had been so dramatically altered by humans, the mere act of holding back a river to create a dam is immense. Vast cuts are taken from the land and new channels created. Inorganic shapes and patterns justapose the natural landscape.

Shot on digital and film.