Waiheke house boats — another way of life

Waiheke house boats — another way of life

For immediate release

A small community living on the edge has been captured by a Unitec photography student Candice Noyer. ‘A place at our table’ is a photographic series and observational film inviting the outside world into the everyday lives of Waiheke houseboat dwellers.

A cluster of house boats nestled on a creek bank at Rocky Bay is home to a handful of characters almost completely off the grid. The group of seven houseboats in Rocky Bay’s Rangihoua Creek and another three at Putiki Bay, Ostend use solar power, rain water and composting toilets as the basis for a simple, sustainable life.

To complete her Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts, Candice’s end-of-year project shows the house boats and the people who live in them, living by ecologically-balanced systems.

“I aimed to merely observe someone’s life and let the subjects do the talking, but over the development of the project I felt the need to encourage discussion about living alternatively within New Zealand.

“A table has always been a space in my home where we engage in conversation, sharing and open discussion. I invite people to take a place at this table, and listen in on the conversations that happen not only within the community, but also as a broader conversation regarding the appreciation of alternative lifestyles within New Zealand.”

The boat dwellers operate a tight-knit community, especially on the creek where they are moored and have dug in communal vegetable gardens against the creek bank. Candice describes them as, “colourful, quirky and welcoming” and “a special thing to run into”.

Candice’s ‘A place at our table’ is a photobook comprised of 50 images and a short film. It will be one of the 500 student exhibits showing at Unitec’s Gradfest 2016 on 24 November.

For more information on Gradfest go to www.unitec.ac.nz/gradfest.
ENDS

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