Melody Cooper is passionate about creating spaces for people to experience manaakitanga, and about capturing the beauty of humanity and creation through the lens of her camera.
Melody grew up in both Auckland and Nelson, which means she knows the big-city and small-town life well. Upon completing secondary school, she spent six months in India, both studying and travelling. This turned out to be a highly formative time for future work, study, and the outworking of her faith.
Upon returning to New Zealand, Melody dove into various voluntary positions within Auckland and overseas, and completed Undergraduate studies in Christian Ministries, Conflict Resolution & International Studies, as well as Postgraduate studies in International Development.
Melody loves getting to know people and learning what makes them tick. She enjoys travelling, exploring her own back yard, photography, and spending time with friends and family.
I think that home is about what happens within the four walls, but it reaches outside of them also. This can be true whether you have a permanent structure to call home or not.
For this photo essay, I was asked to delve into the Passion narrative as told in each of the four gospels and to allow the narrative to inform a photo essay of images gathered from around Tāmaki Makaurau.
Until he passed, my Uncle Graham had a notebook in the drawer beside his bed filled with the names of people he was praying for.