FIONA CLARK

Since then she has continued to work at the cutting edge of documentary, art photography. She exhibited a series of work on bodybuilding when public opinion was still struggling to accept this as a viable sport.

Fiona has always been able to sift through the layers of the ordinary to expose the extraordinary in whatever community she has lived in. This happened in her town of Waitara Taranaki when her work was included by local Maori in the first ever land claim through the Treaty of Waitangi Tribunal. Local Maori used her images to show the magnificence of the area and its value as natural heritage conservation sites.

She has had major exhibitions of work involving the lesbian community of Taranaki with her show of Club 47.

Fiona recorded the impact of living with HIV, AIDS when she documented the lives of three HIV positive men and one woman. This was in the 1980’s before good understanding of the disease and way before life prolonging drugs were developed. All subjects have since died but these diaries leave behind a haunting, beautiful and tragic legacy.

Fiona’s work has been published widely and she has traveled overseas on arts council grants. Her works are held in most major public collections in New Zealand. She continues to be one of the best artists in the Taranaki region and one of the most important photographers in the country.