Spectre Echo Landfall follows the two-channel format that is a feature of many of Nathan Pōhio’s works. In this instance, each part is made from a photograph being moved by hand while filming. The two eighteenth-century ships appear to rock and bounce on the sea, an exaggerated movement that emphasises how film and video are always created from still images in motion. The two sides are out of sync, though, highlighting that they are from different perspectives or points in time and the potential gap between experiences. Literally embodying filmmaker Barry Barclay’s (Ngāti Apa) positioning of the camera on the shore, Nathan invites us to imagine seeing the arrival of these ships, taking control of the narrative.

Ka whai tā Nathan Pōhio toi, Spectre Echo Landfall, i te tikanga aro-rua. He tikanga e kaha kitea ana i āna nei mahi. I tēnei o ngā wā, ka whakanekenekehia e ia tētahi whakaahua i a ia e rikoata ana. Ka kitea ngā waka e rua mai i te rautau 18 e tīkoki haere ana i te moana. He nekehanga tahupera e whakamiramira ana, e kī ake ana ko ngā kiriata me ngā whitiāhua katoa he mea i takea mai i te āhua e whiti rere ana. Kāore ngā taha e rua i te haere takitahi. Hei whakaatu tēnei āhua i te aronga kē, i ngā wā rerekē, i ngā wheako kē. E whakatinana ana tēnei i tā Barry Barclay (Ngāti Apa) whakarite i te kāmera ki tātahi, ā, e akiaki ana a Nathan i ō tātou pōhewa hei whakapae waka ki uta. Koia rā te hāpainga o te kōrero.

(Māori Moving Image ki Te Puna o Waiwhetū, 4 June 2022– 16 October 2022)