Tui Caro-Lister (b. 2003) captures fantasy and documentary through a distinctive black-and-white aesthetic marked by extreme contrast. These images mirror the photographer's experience with bipolar disorder-stark highs and lows, all or nothing, black or white. This visual language is not merely stylistic but deeply personal, reflecting the turbulent headspace that drives her relentless creative energy and propels her into the environments she documents.
Working across high fashion photography and candid nightlife scenes, Caro-Lister photographs friends, strangers, models, and social figures with equal intensity. Her subjects appear animated, as if drawn from graphic novels, anime, or music videos, while simultaneously capturing authentic moments of elation, boredom, intimacy, and performance.
Raised between a childhood in New Zealand, adolescence in Los Angeles, and later experiences in Italy and London, Caro-Lister weaves these influences into a highly perceptive form of world-building. Focused on fleeting moments and passing characters, her photography offers an intimate portrait of humanity shaped by movement, memory, and lived experience.