Series description
This series shows the early stages of Auckland’s Future Rail Tāmaki Makaurau project, which will introduce new underground train lines to the city. This project aims to show the importance of the construction workers involved in making it a reality who often go unnoticed, recognising their role in the development, rather than seeing them as ‘interruptions’ in city life. Shot within active construction zones, the colour orange has been emphasised in the photographs to symbolically highlight their significance during the foundation stages of the project.
Biography
Joel Potter is a New Zealand-based creative studying photography and graphic design at AUT. Inspired by his family’s love of photography and videography, he grew up surrounded by creativity, including his mother’s paintings. Joel got his first camera at age eight, a digicam, sparking his initial drive for perfection in composition and art. Photography became a powerful tool for self-expression, allowing him to tell stories and, as an emotional person, explore the depth of human connection.
As One
This photograph was taken in the centre of Auckland looking down on different construction workers going about their duties. They are all doing their own thing but are connected in this image by the colour orange.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
STOP
Even the people who direct traffic play a significant role in construction. Simply directing life around the construction area improves the safety and speed of all development.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Hard Hat
Late afternoon on a rainy day. A day like this must have been shattering, but the work still gets done, and this worker is still smiling.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Connection
A quiet moment of connection between two construction workers. Photographed through a glass panel, the composition contrasts their stillness with the busy city around them.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
New Among the Old
This group of workers is surrounded by structures that were built by other construction workers before them; they are in the early stages of creating something similar.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Behind Bars
The humanity of this construction worker is locked away behind a metal fence. This prison-like composition of this image shows how construction workers are often reduced to their roles, trapped by the assumption that they are 'just' construction workers, and nothing more.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards
Working
Three workers on part of a project in the city centre. The workers’ protective clothing can conceal the fact that they are people; as passers-by it is important for us to understand there is someone under the clothes.
© Joel Potter, New Zealand, Shortlist, Student Competition, In the Beginning, 2025 Sony World Photography Awards