A photograph of the earthquake damage to the column of a house. The bricks have pulled away from each other near the base of the column. The column in front has collapsed.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a house in Christchurch. The side wall has crumbled, exposing the inside of the house.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to the roof of a house in Christchurch .
A photograph of a house in Christchurch. There is earthquake damage to the roof on the right.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house. Sections of the house's walls have collapsed and the bricks have spilled into the garden.
A photograph of a pile of rubble and scaffolding on Manchester Street.
A photograph of a large crack in the bed of a garden in Christchurch.
A photograph of cracks running through the road of a residential street in Christchurch. The pavement has broken at the side of the road and flowers from a bush cover it.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a house in Christchurch. Bricks from the demolished house next door still lie on the roof and against the side wall.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a brick wall of a building on Acton Street. Large sections of the wall have fallen away. The remaining section has large cracks between the bricks. A boat which was being stored inside has toppled over and is now sticking out of the building.
A photograph of a large crack running down the middle of a building. The crack formed when two sections of the building split apart.
A photograph of a path between two houses in Christchurch. The path is covered in rubble from the collapsed house to the right.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house. A large section of the house has collapsed, the bricks spilling into the garden in front.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a building in the Christchurch central city. Some of the windows have been broken, and blinds are hanging out of them.
A photograph of an earthquake-damaged house in Christchurch. The bricks on the side of the house have crumbled, exposing the inside.
A photograph of volunteers working in a temporary emergency management centre set up after the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
A photograph of members of the New Zealand USAR team examining the collapsed basement of a building in central Christchurch.
A photograph of a sign indicating that the Civil Defence centre is closed. Information about other agencies is listed.
A photograph of bricks from an earthquake-damaged house that have fallen against a fence.
A photograph of a red sticker on the side of a building. The sticker indicates that the building is unsafe to enter.
A photograph of an excavator clearing rubble on the corner of Manchester and Lichfield Street.
A photograph of an emergency management member photographing the interior of an earthquake-damaged building.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a store on Colombo Street. The front wall of the top two storeys has collapsed into the street, exposing the inside.
A photograph of the earthquake damage to a letter box on a residential property in Christchurch.
A photograph of cracking in Gayhurst Road.
A photograph of cracking in Gayhurst Road.
A photograph of felled trees in Hagley Park.
A photograph of campervans parked in Hagley Park.
This article is a critical commentary of how political documentary embodies the traits and functions of alternative journalism. I explore this notion through Obrero (‘worker’) my independent documentary project about the labour migration of Filipino workers to Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand, after the earthquake in 2011. This article maps out the points at where the theories and practices of alternative media and documentary intersect. Analysing political documentary as a format of alternative journalism has links to the long tradition of film and video production as a tool for social critique. As a form of practice-based research, Obrero falls under the rubric of alternative journalism—able to represent the politically marginal sectors of the polity and report on issues underreported in the mainstream press. This article concludes that a distribution plan that is responsive to fragmenting audiences works best when alternative journalism no longer targets a niche but transborder audiences.
Lyttelton Harbour at dusk.