MANU KŌINGO – BIRDS OF YEARNING
A Solo Photography Exhibition of Aotearoa’s Extinct and Endangered Birds
WHERE: Parnell Gallery | Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland
WHEN: 4th April – 21 April 2024
Jae Frew is a leading contemporary portrait photographer living in Tamaki Makaurau, Auckland.
Frew’s commercial career in the advertising, magazine, and film industries spans over 30 years and the highly respected
and sought-after photographer lists prime ministers, heads of state, TV personalities, corporate CEO’s, film and
television actors, and prominent sports people among his subjects. Preferring to offer minimal direction during a shoot,
Frew’s approach to portraiture is to encourage authenticity in the sitter, allowing space for the subject’s true
essence, or what they wish to convey, to be revealed and captured.
With time and space to pursue his own photographic projects during the 2020 / 2021 lockdowns, Frew began exploring and
shaping Manu Koingo – Birds of Yearning, a concept that had been on his mind for many years – to create a series of
works that speaks to and engages the interests of his youth while raising awareness of our fragile and diminishing
forest life.
As a boy Frew kept a large aviary in his parents’ backyard. There, he cared for and observed the inhabiting birds while
their characteristics, distinctive movements, and beauty were revealed, leaving an indelible impression on Frew’s
curious young mind. The flint of another lasting passion was sparked during his youth as Frew spent time learning the
art of creating fine furniture in wood under the tutelage of his cabinetmaker father.
Through his collection of photographic portraits in Manu Koingo – Birds of Yearning, Frew pays tribute to New Zealand’s
extinct and endangered native wildlife, bringing together his in-depth knowledge of portraiture with a lifelong interest
in birds, and fervour for creating objects with wood.
The formal, fine-art style of Frew’s large-scale portraits of birds, with their darkened Victorian backgrounds and heavy
wooden frames, calls to mind the solemn dignity of 19th century portraiture, a symbol of status that the subject was
beloved, important, or revered. By framing his subject in grand, bespoke frames, Frew further elevates the status of
each bird to that of our ancestors. While reminiscent of a vanished era, the photographs offer a reminder to treasure
and protect what remains in the present. This emphasis on elevation of status speaks to the sense of importance and
urgency that Frew feels for the preservation of our native species of birds and forest life.
Frew was granted access to collections and specimens held within institutions such as Museum of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa, spending countless hours observing his subject from every angle, just as he did as a boy with the birds in
his aviary. By capturing his still life avian subjects in ways that would have us believe they might suddenly stir and
take flight or turn their head to meet our gaze, Frew has resurrected these dormant specimens. An evocative sense of
each bird’s personality is revealed, offering an invitation to the viewer – in the tradition of viewing portraiture – to
attribute and project character, temperament, memories, and history to each subject, to connect as we would with a
portrait of someone known to us, a loved one, family member, or ancestor.
Frew designs the profile for each frame with careful and sensitive consideration to how a frame belongs and relates to
each subject. Creating, shaping, joining, and painting the lengths of moulding by hand from reclaimed and salvaged
native timber, he is connected to and honours the skills taught to him by his father, while elevating and bringing new
life to cast-away remnants of our endangered timber.
“I’ve long been fascinated with 19th century New Zealand portraits by painters such as Lindauer and particularly Goldie
and their compositional understanding of how to draw the viewer into the subject, a subtle turn of the head or the
position of the gaze,” says Frew.
My vision of the world is captured through the lens of my camera… firstly capturing people through portraiture, and now
our endangered and treasured bird life.
As a boy, two enduring interests were sparked that have been particularly impactful in my present practice. Growing up,
we kept a large aviary and while I cared for the inhabitants I would observe; fascinated by their habits and individual
traits.
My father was a cabinetmaker and under his tutelage I would spend time in his workshop learning the art of creating with
wood while a fervor for fine timber work was cultivated.
For portraits of our extinct and endangered birds, I’m drawn to the formal fine art style of 19th century portraiture -
it calls to mind a solemn dignity - a sense of high status, and that the subject of the photograph was - or is -
beloved, important… revered.
I create each of the frames in reclaimed native timbers, designing each profile for a particular species, and by framing
them in these grand, heavy, bespoke frames, I want to elevate the bird to a higher status, to the status of ‘ancestor’.
My portraits - our native birds framed in our native timber - pay tribute to New Zealand’s treasured wildlife, and
through them I hope to emphasise the plight of our diminishing bird and forest life, that - like the fate of our
majestic Huia - are in danger of extinction.
Frew is represented by Parnell Gallery which will showcase his second photography exhibition
Manu Kōingo: Birds of Yearning from Thursday 4th April Sunday 21 April 2024.