#culturalspaces

For my first fieldwork session, I visited an Asian supermarket in Hamilton. I focused on shelves filled with familiar Chinese ingredients—soy sauce, dried noodles, frozen dumplings, and other snacks. Seeing these items immediately gave me a strong sense of “home” and made me realise how food carries cultural memory across distance.

I took close-up shots of product packaging and was especially drawn to the contrast between the bright, colourful wrappers and the plain, neutral supermarket background. One thing I noticed was that Chinese products were often grouped together in a dedicated “Asian Foods” aisle, separated from the rest of the mainstream New Zealand goods. This kind of visual division seemed to symbolise how cultural difference is consciously framed and displayed.

Some of the photos turned out too cluttered or visually chaotic. This led me to think more carefully about composition in future shoots—perhaps I need to focus more on details or use shallow depth of field to isolate specific items and create visual clarity.

This shoot helped me realise that a supermarket is more than just a commercial space—it’s also a cultural space. It shows how Chinese food culture is both seen and selected in New Zealand, and it reflects part of how identity is expressed and negotiated in a diasporic context.