New film on Splore showcases photographer Serena Stevensonโs extraordinary vision
It was late February when the last act wrapped and Stevenson packed up her gear for the drive home to Te Henga/Bethells Beach.
Six months later, she woke up one morning to discover her peripheral sight had gone dark.
A CT scan quickly ruled out a brain tumour, but swelling had caused permanent damage to her optic nerves โ possibly caused by the delayed effects of untreated concussion.
The diagnosis came as a devastating blow to Stevenson, whoโs now blind in one eye and has impaired perception in the other.
โAll the fibres just broke and died, and they donโt grow back,โ she says. โIt happens over two weeks and basically you just watch your eyesight disappearing in front of you.โ

In 2022, the arts community rallied behind a Givealittle campaign that raised money to help her travel to a specialist clinic in Germany for electrical stimulation therapy.
The treatment improved her vision by 35%. Despite the imperfections that remain, Stevenson is back on the camera and remains a visionary storyteller at the top of her game.
Her latest project, a homage to Splore, is one of the most ambitious, innovative works sheโs ever created.
Described as an immersive โcinematic experienceโ, Three Days in February has no interviews or linear narration, blending documentary footage with a curated soundscape and an original live musical score.
Celebrating Sploreโs colourful culture and diverse community, itโs been compiled from some 40 terabytes of footage shot at the three-day festival โ by Stevenson and a handful of others โ every year since 2018.


The festival is taking a break this year, but on February 14, the film will be presented as a multimedia concert at Aucklandโs Civic Theatre, featuring circus, music and dance performances. A massed choir will sing people through the doors.
While thatโs a one-off event, itโs also been chosen to screen as part of the 2025 Doc Edge film festival programme in July and there are plans to tour it more widely.
Stevenson has a long history with Splore, attending the festival for the first time in 2000 and documenting it as part of the official crew since 2008.

As a child, she used to go camping along that coast with her family. โSo I have my own personal connection with it and itโs become such a huge part of my culture, this eclectic, colourful, creative community,โ she says.
โBut I didnโt want to make a documentary about a music and arts festival. I wanted to make something that really expressed my beliefs and values in life and what it is that I feel Iโm contributing to with my work.โ
Three Days in February devotes little screen time to the performers on stage. Instead, itโs a celebration of the relationship between people and place, with extended camera shots lingering on everything from the intimate beauty of the opening pลwhiri to a burst of purple tinsel dancing in the wind.
Like the festival itself, the effect is both poetic and playful. In one vignette, a couple dressed up as sheep, wearing tutus over their onesies, are knitting on a haybale by the beach.

Splore founder Amanda Wright, who handed over the reins to her co-director John Minty in 2014, has remained a close friend. She still DJs at the festival and is part of Stevensonโs wellness network as her Qigong teacher and breath-work coach.
โIโm blown away by her bravery and her boldness and her vision,โ Wright says. โSplore is about human connection, which is so vital in all of our lives, and Serena captures the essence and spirit of that in her own unique, magical way.โ
A blend of diverse cultural influences herself, Stevenson was born in South Auckland to an Italian mother and a Scottish-Kiwi dad.
As a teenager, she began photographing her Italian family at mealtimes, in particular her grandmother, who migrated from southern Italy to Melbourne after World War II and raised 10 children.
One of Stevensonโs works in progress is a โstorytelling cookbookโ called No English, Darling that documents 40 recipes handed down by her Nonna, who lived until the age of 93.
Another ongoing initiative is the Preloved Project, a large-scale multimedia concept inspired by op-shop culture, combining video, photography, interactive installations, events and street art.
Always an intuitive photographer, Stevenson believes that quality has been heightened by her partial loss of sight.
โIt hasnโt been easy, going from being that fully sighted person before. But I think itโs made my work โ and this is the feedback Iโve had from people โ even more powerful,โ she says.
โI know about light and composition. Itโs second-nature, because, Iโve been looking at it for 30 years. I can see light, but my memory helps me to see it, too, because itโs embedded in all my cells.
โPhotography is not just about seeing. Itโs about feeling. Iโm a people photographer and Iโm a storyteller, so itโs always been about feeling for me.โ
- Three Days in February, a live, multimedia concert show, will be held at Aucklandโs Civic Theatre on February 14, followed by a Lucky Star after-party in the Wintergarden.
Joanna Wane is an award-winning senior feature writer in the New Zealand Heraldโs Lifestyle Premium team, with a special interest in social issues and the arts.