Some of Samoa's fa'afafine community captured in the Paradise Camp exhibition. Photo / Yuki Kihara
Some of Samoa's fa'afafine community captured in the Paradise Camp exhibition. Photo / Yuki Kihara
When Yuki Kihara explains the meaning of her Japanese name, the picture of a crisp winter’s day instantly appears.
“The translation of my name is naked autumn trees clothed by the falls of gentle snowflakes.
“Japan just comes into mind, don’t you think? But I was brought up under the coconut tree,” she laughs heartily.
Kihara is proud of her Japanese roots - through her father - and her Samoan ancestry through her mother, who hails from the village of Fitiuta on the island of Taʻū, in the Manu’a group of islands, in American Samoa.
Artist photographer Yuki Kihara's Paradise Camp exhibition is now showing in Samoa. Photo / Ralph Brown
And it is in Samoa where Kihara, also a proud fa’afafine (transwoman), is now based as an international artist; having previously been based between New Zealand and the islands for several years before moving to the motherland permanently about 12 years ago.
“I was able to be based anywhere around the world and I’ve decided that Samoa was the place that I wanted to be. I’ve been very blessed to be based in Samoa...and Aotearoa is my second home.”
Kihara initially trained as a fashion designer at the then Wellington Polytechnic and graduated with a Bachelor of Fashion Design Technology in the mid-90s.
A paradise where there is no judgement
She went on to use her skills in the performing arts, film and television industry; working behind the scenes as a wardrobe manager responsible for the actors’ costumes and wardrobe.
That behind-the-scenes work ultimately inspired her to get into photography and video in a way that let her express herself through the medium of art.
“I got to see how a production takes place; the role of the director, producer, costume designer, wardrobe manager, production manager, lighting, set design - I saw it all.
“I decided to take all this knowledge...and apply it to make my own artwork.”
The fact she was not formally trained at an art school has given her an advantage, she says.
An image in Yuki Kihara's Paradise Camp exhibition. Photo / Yuki Kihara
“When you’re trained at an art school, there’s a certain outcome that’s expected of you. But because I became an artist from another way round, it served as my advantage.”
The talented artist created a uniquely lush and thought-provoking photographic exhibition: Paradise Camp, which premiered at the prestigious Venice Biennale art festival two years ago and is being shown in Samoa for the first time.
The 12-piece exhibition features models from the fa’afafine community captured with the background of Samoa’s picturesque greenery, gardens and waterfalls. The photos themselves are presented around the picturesque Saletoga Sands Resort on Upolu.
Liberating the fa’afafine community
The striking images show some of the roles fa’afafine and fa’atama (transmen) play in Samoan and Pacific society, such as caring for young children and the elderly.
Others show what Kihara dreams of what society could be for the fa’afafine community.
One of the photographs in the Paradise Camp exhibition. Photo / Yuki Kihara
“My background is very much reflected in the Paradise Camp exhibition. It’s presented as an outdoor exhibition so that the lushness of the photographs blends in with the foliage in the garden.
“So the idea is that when you’re looking at the photographs, it blends in with the garden in the background and it also feels very surreal because you sometimes can’t tell what’s the photograph and what’s the real natural environment,” she says.
“What I aim to do, in the Paradise Camp exhibition, is to portray a fictitious paradise where people are no longer judged for their gender and sexuality and that we’re living in harmony with nature. That’s the simple message.”
There is a laugh or smile whenever Kihara thinks back to the photoshoot process of the exhibition - which involved dozens of models.
Fa'afafine captured in paradise. Photo / Yuki Kihara
“They are all divas! But once they understood the mana behind the project, they all got into place.
“It’s really funny because most of them are very outgoing and loud. But you put them in front of a camera and they freeze and I’m like: ‘Fai mai fo’i o le princess’! (You said you were a princess!)
The Paradise Camp exhibition is showing in Samoa until January next year, before touring Tahiti and the United Kingdom.
Vaimoana Mase is the Pasifika editor for the Herald’s Talanoa section, sharing stories from the Pacific community. She won junior reporter of the year at the then Qantas Media Awards in 2010 and won the best opinion writing award at the 2023 Voyager Media Awards.
