Tash Hopkins

Tash Hopkins is a photographic artist living in Auckland, New Zealand whose long-term projects turn a new lens on portrayals of stereotypes, age and gender. Central to her practise is a desire to challenge social preconceptions by disrupting the visual clichés that stereotype and homogenise individuals or subcultures; instead inviting the viewer to engage from a place of enquiry. Tash photographs people whose lives differ markedly from her own. At the heart of this outsider perspective is a desire to gain insight into the unfamiliar and to investigate the biases and assumptions that arise from society or the media.

She chooses to work predominantly with a large-format camera, a process she likens to “pressing pause on the world”. This method, along with her non-directive approach allows those she photographs to participate in the creation of images notable for their intimacy and authenticity. Her work offers the viewer a unique opportunity to encounter another person on their own terms.

Tash studied photography at Wellington Polytechnic and has participated in AUT and Massey University Masterclasses between 2013 and 2018. In 2018 she received a special mention in the Urbanautica awards and participated in the 4x5x6 exhibition at Photospace gallery. In 2019 she was nominated for the World Press Global Talent 6x6 Program and was included in the Women in Photography New Zealand and Australia exhibition. In 2020 she was shortlisted for the Work Show Grow Mentorship and selected for the Women Photograph Workshop.