Allan McDonald is a lecturer in photography at Unitec, Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka. He works with an archive of images spanning more than 50 years from which he curates narratives of social history and place. These often appear as small publications, most recently Between the Silence and the Flame 2016, Carbon Empire, 2017 and The Holding 2020. Carbon Empire won the New Zealand Photobook of the Year Award. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Auckland Art Gallery, Te Papa and the Chartwell Collection. He is represented by the Anna Miles Gallery in Auckland