Here’s What We Thought Of Taika Waititi’s New Exhibition In Auckland
What happens when you turn off every light in the room and give a filmmaker just one source of illumination?
New Zealand’s own legendary filmmaker Taika Waititi has never been particularly interested in doing things the normal or easy way. Any film he works on always has a sense that he’s looking at the world from a different lens, just slightly left of centre. That same instinct has now been pointed at photography.
Spotlight, Taika’s new photography exhibition created in collaboration with premium Chinese EV brand Zeekr, takes a surprisingly simple idea and runs with it.
Opened in Ponsonby on the evening of the 16th of September and running until the 20th, this free exhibition features seven photographs created entirely in darkness inside Studio 230. And the lighting rig? A gorgeous deep metallic green Zeekr 7X suspended from the ceiling. Yes, you read that right… suspended from the ceiling. Rather than treating the car as another shiny object to park in the background of a glossy car campaign, Waititi has made the 7X part of the creative machinery. Its headlights provide the only light used to create the photographs, effectively turning the EV into a giant cinematic torch.
The resulting images are suitably strange and Taika’esk. At first glance, these scenes have very little in common. There are a group of cavemen, or an elderly couple sunbathing, or an alien UFO abducting a poor, unsuspected human. But illuminated almost entirely by the 7X’s headlights, they take on completely different faces, unique aspects that feel immediately familiar to anyone who has spent time with Waititi’s films. In a sense, Spotlight isn’t your standard celebrity-meets-car collaboration. The Zeekr 7X isn’t simply being photographed. It is doing some of the photographing.
For Zeekr, the exhibition is an opportunity to showcase the 7X’s design and lighting technology as the company continues expanding across New Zealand and Australia. For Waititi, it’s just another great excuse to experiment behind a camera.
Frank Li, Managing Director of Zeekr Australia and New Zealand, says the collaboration reflects Zeekr’s TransTasman ambition.
‘Taika is one of the most influential creative voices to emerge from New Zealand,’ says Li, ‘with a body of work that resonates globally and a strong connection to audiences across both New Zealand and Australia. The collaboration reflects the confidence and ambition that sit at the heart of the Zeekr brand and demonstrates our commitment to doing things differently.’
That may be the real appeal of Spotlight. To stretch the norm, as it were. To take away the studio lights, the elaborate sets and the usual photographic bells and whistles, and see what’s left. It turns out, quite a lot. What’s left is seven photographs of pure Waititi brilliance. One car in total darkness. And, naturally, a UFO.
Spotlight by Zeekr in collaboration with Taika Waititi runs from 17–20 September 2026 at Studio 230, Ponsonby, Auckland, with free entry.
