Title: River-Road: Journeys Through Ecology

Photographer: David Cook

Author: Wiremu Puke

Date of publication: 2011

Place of publication: Auckland, New Zealand

Language: English

Dimensions of book: 177mm x 248mm

Edition size: 800

Number of pages: 92

Number of images: 59

Cover, Type of binding: Hardcover w/ embossed text

Printer: Offset

Type of paper: Munken Print 80gsm + Sumo Matte 128gsm

Printer: Geon Print, Auckland, New Zealand

Publisher: Rim Books, Auckland, New Zealand

Publication designer: Jonty Valentine

ISBN: 978-0-473-19699-8

Retail price: NZ $40

Summary of project:

River/Road takes an intimate look at the environmental, cultural, historical and economic factors that shape the ecology of our immediate environment. The narrative explores regional ecology from a bicultural perspective.
The authors trace a journey, following the parallel arteries of the Waikato River and River Road. The emphasis is on being ‘readers’ of the landscape. The authors bring a number of distinct voices to the project

Jonty Valentine the graphic designer, provokes and navigates the reader through a multi-layered account of space and time.

Wiremu Puke launches his story-telling journey from the slopes of Taupiri where he surveys the landscape and makes his way upriver through Ngaruawahia and on to the city of Hamilton. He writes about the creatures and people who inhabit the space; wildlife, Tainui history, colonial settlement, contemporary dilemmas and imagined futures.

David Cook takes a photographic journey from his hometown of Hamilton, through suburbia, industrial zones, wild spaces, farms and on to Ngaruawahia, under the gaze of Taupiri. His images explore signs of the ever changing ecology of these spaces.