Rewa Rendall

Photographic Alchemist - Contemporary Wet Plate Photographer

Rewa Rendall is a photographic artist based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Working with the nineteenth-century wet plate collodion process, she creates portraits that exist between past and present — material artefacts forged through glass, silver, and light. Her practice unfolds inside Kinsey’s Den & Darkroom, a historic site once used by Antarctic explorers and photographers. In this space, light fall, chemical residue, temperature, and worn surfaces actively shape each image. Rewa’s work is grounded in memory, legacy, and the universal human impulse to explore: to pause, orient inwardly, and leave a trace. Each portrait becomes both an act of witnessing and an invitation to step into a continuum that connects past explorers, present visitors, and future hands.

Place and legacy

Her practice is deeply grounded in place and legacy, rooted in Kinsey’s Den & Darkroom at Ferrymead Heritage Park — the former Christchurch studio of Sir Joseph Kinsey, confidant and supporter of Captain Robert Falcon Scott. It was here that Herbert Ponting’s Antarctic photographs were once developed. Today, Rewa revives this tradition, using the same space and historic photographic techniques to create evocative portraits that bridge past and present.

Drawing from her own expedition across the Drake Passage to Antarctica, Rewa’s work honours both the pioneers of Antarctic exploration and those continuing their journeys today — from scientists and conservationists to writers, artists, and modern explorers. Her portraits are created through a slow, deliberate process that allows each sitter to become part of a living narrative.

Rewa is the artist behind The Visitors Book, an evolving exhibition and immersive installation that breathes new life into Kinsey’s historic guest book. Combining portraits, letters, and archival storytelling, the project invites audiences to step beyond the photographic frame and into a shared legacy that spans generations.

Through her lens, Rewa captures moments of presence, connection, and reflection, creating portraits that are both contemporary artworks and heirlooms. Her practice offers a rare opportunity to experience wet-plate photography in New Zealand, standing in the same space where Antarctic explorers once gathered — and becoming part of the story.

Time ticks patiently…

Step inside Kinsey’s Den and Darkroom and experience the alchemy of legacy and light. Press play on the video below to listen to the magic.

artist/

"I believe legacy is not what we leave behind, but who we meet with along the way."

Rewa Rendall

Listen to the artists’ practice….

An invitation to listen, immerse yourself for a few minutes in my practice as I take you into the black art of wet plate photography.

Artists CV

  • Rewa Rendall is a photographic artist based in Ōtautahi Christchurch, working with the nineteenth-century wet plate collodion process to create tintype and ambrotype portraits. Her practice is rooted in Kinsey’s Den & Darkroom at Ferrymead Heritage Park — a historic studio once used by Sir Joseph Kinsey, confidant to Captain Robert Falcon Scott, and by photographer Herbert Ponting during the early Antarctic expeditions.

    Within this space, Rewa explores how light, place, and human presence intersect to create images that are both contemporary and timeless. Her work bridges documentary and poetic traditions, honouring the past while re-imagining what it means to witness, connect, and remember.

    Each portrait is crafted slowly, through glass, silver, and chemistry, inviting stillness and collaboration between sitter, artist, and the room itself. Through The Visitors Book project, Rewa continues the conversation begun over a century ago in Kinsey’s Den — linking the signatures of early explorers with those who enter the space today.

    Her portraits are acts of preservation and presence: quiet records of the human impulse to explore, to connect, and to leave a trace.

  • Rewa Rendall - b.1974

    Incubator Toi Ōtautahi
    2024 - Mentorship program

    Australian Institute of Professional Photography AIPP                   
    2012- 2019 Professional Development

    AD School,  Australian Writers and Art Directors Association     
    2003 Sydney,  Australia

    Diploma of Education – Visual Arts 
    1998–1999 University of Western Sydney Penrith

    Exchange Program - Animation & Film Studies.
    1994 Bavarian Fachhocschule Wurzburg, Germany

    Bachelor of Arts (Visual) – Photomedia
    1992–1995 Canberra School of Art Canberra, ACT

  • 2025 DocEdge Winner
    Best New Zealand Immersive Impact Project

    2012 National Portrait Prize Finalist
    National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, Australia. 

    2008 ABAF Award Winner
    Australian Business Arts Foundation  LINK TO MORE INFORMATION HERE (p25)

    2007 Flake Film Festival winner
    Jindabyne, NSW - people choice  award - short film competition

    2003 Apple Educator of Excellence
    NSW Australia - development and delivery of the Director in the Classroom program

  • TŪRANGA LIBRARY 
    2023/24/25 - Artist talk/ presentation during Days of Ice Antarctic celebration. DOC Edge film festival - installation and artist talk in partnership with The Canterbury Museum and The Canterbury Photography Museum.

    PHOTOSYNTHESIS 
    2023-2025: Artist talks and pop-up exhibitions.

    ANTARCTIC NETWORK
    2022 -25 - Exhibition of 2D & 3D landscape images from the Antarctic and traditional wet plate portraiture in conjunction with the Days of Ice celebration organised by the Christchurch Antarctic Office. Guest speaker at Antarctic Film Festival 2025

    ALICE SPRING BEANIE FESTIVAL
    2019  - Judge & Facilitator - Fostering indigenous community connection and collaboration through fibre. Story through fibre celebrated with the making of wearable art in the form of a Beanie!  Workshops and demonstrations in fibre preparation, felting techniques, Spinning & Weaving, and documentation of the festival.

    LYTTELTON FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS & MATARIKI 
    2020-22 - Artist - In collaboration with artists Piri (Priscillia Cowie), Pauls Rigby and Fab Lab (Carl Pavletich) to produce an installation that celebrates the activation of the vacant Lyttelton Museum artworks representing themes of mahinga kai (food and natural resources) and manaakitanga (hospitality) to welcome people back to the site.

    SOUTHERN HEALTH
    2008-10  - Production Director / Artist / Filmmaker / Photographer
    Southern General Practice Network and South East Arts Region - production of DVD resource that encouraged teenagers in the Mums & Dads Group, Cooma, to participate in arts activities that promote messages of health and wellbeing for young people.

    NSW DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
    iSHINE  - Collaborating Curriculum and Cinema.  A cross curricula K-12 student digital short film project that was developed for the Bathurst and Orange district schools of the DET, New South Wales in 2002. In addition to this Ishine has a global link with schools in North and South Wales, United Kingdom.


    *Additional partnerships have included Penrith Lakes Dev Corporation, Penrith Lakes Cultural Landscape Study - 3D virtual tour. French Festival Akaroa - set design and creation of traditional wet plate photography studio, Akaroa Lights Festival - making and installation of light projection. Southern General Practice Network and South East Arts Region - production of DVD resources that encouraged teenagers in the Mums & Dads Group, Cooma, to participate in arts activities that promote messages of health and wellbeing for young people.