Maania Tealei Photography

07/09/2025

Hari Rā Pāpā - Happy Father’s Day!! Found this post form 2023 and love how I wanted to capture taonga tuku iho and now look how far I have come. Thank you for supporting me through the good and bad times Carl Nolan. Hope my little sisters have you sorted today since I can’t be there. Arohanui xx

Ever since my precious Taua Mihirau passed away in 2019 it made me realise how many photos I wish I had of taken of her recognising her cultural identity, for me and future generations to enjoy. Capturing our Kaumatua and loved ones in a taonga tuku iho (treasured heirloom) is something I value even more now.

This photo of my dad is honouring our cultural identity and will be a taonga tuku iho for future generations.

With the resurgence of Māori culture in Aotearoa my hope is that we see more and more of these representations of cultural identity for our tangata whenua.

06/09/2025

If the answer is Sunday..what is the Question?

03/09/2025

Maania Tealei, Ko Taku Hoa Rangatira (My Esteemed Companion, My Rangatira Partner), Tumanako Te Toko Wha and Susan Reihana, Arowhenua Marae - Te Hapa o Niu Tireni, 2025, on display in Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring our Legacy) at the Aigantighe Art Gallery.

Ko Taku Hoa Rangatira (My Esteemed Companion, My Rangatira Partner), Tumanako Te Toko Wha and Susan Reihana, Arowhenua Marae - Te Hapa o Niu Tireni, 2025, is a photograph in Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring our Legacy) by the Timaru-based photographer Maania Tealei (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha). In this exhibition at the Aigantighe Art Gallery, Tealei turns her lens toward local kaumātua with a sense of reverence and intimacy that speaks to both whakapapa and aroha.
Raised by her grandparents, this project emerges not only from artistic inquiry but also from lived experience. This kaupapa is not constructed but inherited — born from long conversations at kitchen tables, from the rhythm of daily life shaped by elders, from the wisdom passed down, not in grand statements, but in small acts of care. This series honours that generation — those who guided her, and who continue to guide many of us still.
Each portrait is formed in two parts. The first captures the kaumātua in a place of personal or ancestral significance – spaces layered with memory, meaning, and connection to whenua. The second portrays them in their Māori kākahu – their cultural garments – drawing out another facet of cultural identity, and one not performed but embodied. These are not formal poses, but quiet affirmations of self and belonging. The result is not merely a portrait, but a composite of presence — of lived and inherited knowledge, of connection to whenua, and of enduring mana.
In Ko Taku Hoa Rangatira (My Esteemed Companion, My Rangatira Partner), we see Tumanako Te Toko Wha and Susan Reihana standing in strength and aroha in their kākahu. In this photograph we are privy to a moment between them, an honest and cherishing look that says it all – it is always about collaboration, it is always about partnership.
This weekend is the final weekend for Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho, which is on display at the Aigantighe Art Gallery until 10 August 2025.

20/08/2025

✨ GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨

Ngā mihi nui to everyone who entered the Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho kaumātua portrait giveaway and shared such heartfelt nominations. It was truly moving to read how deeply our kaumātua continue to guide, nurture, and uplift our lives.

🎉 I’m excited to announce that the winner of the FREE Māori Portrait Session is Gwen Anglem-Bower! 🎉

Your name was drawn using a random generator (you can watch the screen recording below) and I can’t wait to capture the wairua and mana of your chosen kaumātua through this special kaupapa.

To everyone who entered ngā mihi aroha. Your words honoured the taonga in your lives, and I hope this giveaway reminded us all to celebrate and acknowledge our kaumātua while we have the chance.

Arohanui,
Maania

16/08/2025

Huge thanks to everyone who came along to my artist talk!! I’m so grateful for the support. For those who couldn’t make it, here’s the link to watch the video

Maania Tealei - Artist Kōrero with Izzy Hillman 📸

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCeR_aIJ9Hk

Maania Tealei - Artist Kōrero with Izzy Hillman 📸

Check out our new YouTube video all about Maania Tealei's first solo photography exhibition - Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring Our Legacy).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCeR_aIJ9Hk

09/08/2025

❤️❤️❤️ look who made front cover 😍

We’re delighted to share the cover of the forthcoming issue of takahē ( #114)!

The cover image is ‘Ka Raranga te Ao i aku Ringa: The World is Woven by My Hands’ (2025), by Maania Tealei (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha), and featuring Francine Spencer (Taranaki Tuturu, Waitaha, Kāti Māmoe, Rapuwai, Ngāi Tahu).

Issue #114 will feature an essay on Tealei’s evocative photographic series from which the cover image is drawn, ‘Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho: Honouring Our Legacy.’

Across the Waitaha region, from Temuka to Waimate, the presence of our kaumātua endures; steady, nurturing, and deeply rooted, and Tealei turns her lens toward this generation with reverence and intimacy, honouring both whakapapa and aroha.

Maania Tealei is a freelance photographer with a studio located in the centre of Timaru. Alongside her photography, Maania is passionate about helping her community and works on various creative projects with Māori and Pasifika.

🖤Cover design by Maurice Lye.
🖤Text courtesy of Izzy Hillman, Exhibitions Curator at
Aigantighe Art Gallery.

08/08/2025

📸 Final Weekend – Don’t Miss It!
Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring Our Legacy) is in its final days at Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru.

This powerful exhibition of Māori kaumātua portraits celebrates whakapapa, mana, and the strength of our elders – those who guide, protect, and inspire us.

🗓️ Closes Sunday 10 August
📍 Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru
💬 Free entry – bring your whānau!
Opening hours from 12pm - 4pm Saturday and Sunday

Come and feel the wairua. You might even be lucky enough to see me there!

01/08/2025

Look forward to seeing you there

29/07/2025

COMPETITION CLOSED

Final Weeks and GIVEAWAY – Don’t Miss It!
Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring Our Legacy) is currently showing at Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru until 10 August 2025.

This exhibition celebrates the mana, beauty, and legacy of our kaumātua through Māori portraiture. Thank you to everyone who’s come through to feel the wairua of these portraits – it’s been an honour to share this kaupapa with our community.

✨ GIVEAWAY ✨ Win a FREE kaumātua Māori Portrait Session!
To celebrate the final weeks, I’m offering one FREE Māori portrait session for a deserving kaumātua – valued at $550.

🖤 Nominate a kaumātua who is special to you and plays a guiding role in your life.

To enter:
✅ Tag them in the comments
✅ Share a few words about why they’re special
✅ Follow Maania Tealei Photography

🕒 Entries close 10 August 2025. Winner will be announced shortly after. Ideally winner must be able to come into my studio in Timaru.

⸻

Join me this Saturday 2 August at 1PM 🎤
I’ll be hosting an artist talk at Aigantighe Art Gallery – sharing my journey, creative process, and the story behind Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho. Come along for a kōrero and to connect with the kaupapa. Free to attend – all welcome.

⸻

⚠️ Important – Please read:
To keep our giveaway safe for everyone:
🔒 I will never ask for your credit card, personal info, or to click a suspicious link
🚫 Beware of fake accounts pretending to be me – this is my only official account:
📢 This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or associated with Facebook or Instagram.

Let’s honour our taonga tuku iho ✨

Ngā mihi nui,
Maania

📸Image below: Maania Tealei, Te Pou Whakarae o Arowhenua.
The Chiefly Pillar of Arowhenua, Tewera King (Kāi Tahu), 2025

26/07/2025

Aunty Suzy ❤️

Maania Tealei, Te Kanohi Ora o Kāi Tahu (The Living Face of Kāi Tahu), Suzy Waaka (Kāi Tahu), Arowhenua Marae - Te Hapa o Niu Tireni, 2025, on display in Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring our Legacy) at the Aigantighe Art Gallery.

Te Kanohi Ora o Kāi Tahu (The Living Face of Kāi Tahu), Suzy Waaka (Kāi Tahu), 2025, is a photograph in Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho (Honouring our Legacy) by the Timaru-based photographer Maania Tealei (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha). In this exhibition at the Aigantighe Art Gallery, Tealei turns her lens toward local kaumātua with a sense of reverence and intimacy that speaks to both whakapapa and aroha.
Born and raised in Timaru and brought up by her grandparents, Tealei’s work is deeply personal. Through 26 remarkable photographic portraits, Tealei honours the kaumātua who have shaped her life and continue to guide whānau and hapori (community) today.
The portraits in this exhibition are formed in two parts. The first captures the kaumātua in a place of personal or ancestral significance – spaces layered with memory, meaning, and connection to whenua. The second portrays them in their Māori kākahu – their cultural garments – drawing out another facet of cultural identity.
The Aigantighe Art Gallery curator, Izzy Hilman, describes this second portrait as depicting identity that is not preformed but embodied. We see this captured in Te Kanohi Ora o Kāi Tahu (The Living Face of Kāi Tahu), a photograph of another loved kaumātua, Suzy Waaka – who stately sits, striking in her red dress, nursing a patu in her lap.
There is a kind of quiet insistence throughout this exhibition, it lies in its refusal to let go — of people, of place, of language, of dignity. Tealei’s photographs capture more than what is seen externally, they relay what Tealei herself witnesses – the character, warmth and strength held within her sitters. Tealei’s images capture the kaumātua as pillars of the hāpori (community).
Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho is on display at the Aigantighe Art Gallery until 10 August 2025.

18/07/2025

Gorgeous article on Maania's exhibition in VAULT Magazine Give it a read: https://vaultmagazine.com/extra_archive/extra_2025_tealei.php

Image: Supplied by Artist with permissions. Maania Tealei.

12/07/2025

It still feels a bit surreal opening my phone and seeing my exhibition featured in articles and posts. It’s a little overwhelming (in the best way). I’ve been so supported throughout this journey, and I’m really grateful for all the aroha and encouragement from our community.

If you haven’t had the chance to visit yet, good news is the exhibition Whakahōnore i tō tātou taonga tuku iho: Honouring our Legacy is still on at the Aigantighe Art Gallery until 10 August.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa ❤️

Lastly if you’re interested in hearing about my journey and the inspiration behind this exhibition come along to my artist talk. Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru 2 August | 1pm 🎟️ Free Entry - everyone welcome!

Having her first solo show at Timaru’s recently restored Aiganthighe Art Gallery added extra layers of meaning to local photographer Maania Tealei’s already powerful portrait exhibition. Josie Steenhart talks to her about her work. Maania, how did you first get into photography, and when/ how ...