"We've had a lot of experiences where, even during the session, the nanny will be looking at the little child getting a photo and they'll tear up and say they can see their ancestor in them. It can be very emotional."
Taaniko - who dresses their clients - says the fact that she is Maori and Vienna is Samoan helped them understand the importance of culture in their work.
"We've cried too. I think being indigenous and being brought up with culture being so important in our upbringing, you feel it.
"It started as something I just wanted to see visually ... but within three months of starting, we realised that the most important part of our service was actually the connection - connecting people with their culture, connecting other people with other cultures and reconnecting people to their whakapapa."
They have photographed hundreds of people and have started including accessories from other cultures - Native American, Samoan, Hawaiian and Asian - thanks to the diversity of their customers.
Among their clients are the Imperial Prince and Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand Zvonimir von Habsburg, who is also the Royal Prince of Hungary and Bohemia.
The Prince was in the country this year taking part in the NZ Grand Prix and became interested in the work after one of his crew found the business while researching Maori culture on Google.
All Black Liam Messam is another client - one who was initially reluctant to take his shirt off for his portrait.
"I told him to take his shirt off and he thought I was joking," Taaniko said. "Then I was like, 'Yeah it needs to come off because how else are you going to wear the korowai'?"
The women are off to Queensland next week as demand from Maori living in Australia soars.
Some of their future ventures will include doing portraits in New York, as well as taking photos of people dressed in traditional clothes in front of modern backgrounds.
For more information visit Soldiers Rd Portraits on Facebook.
