The restaurant and hospitality sectors are very close to our hearts at Cuisine. These industries made a valiant and impressive effort to survive across the various levels while we were all asked to stay home and fight Covid-19. In these excruciating circumstances it has been heartwarming to see the support from communities across New Zealand for their local eating and drinking establishments. And so when these beautiful images by Auckland-based photographer Manja Wachsmuth started to appear on social media we were captivated by their honesty and wanted to share them with you. We sometimes forget that behind each small business there is usually a family at its core. Lockdown has given us all time to ponder, to think about fears as well as opportunities for the future.

Manja Wachsmuth explains…

The strong message of supporting your local restaurant has been circling social media a great deal during the period of Covid-19 and it gave me an idea. I wanted to show my support in the best way I could. Through my art. I wanted to see if I could get the local restaurants to see that the message also relates to how they support their local artists, interact with food media and, of course, every other business that provides a service to them within their local area.

#supportlocal is the theme for this personal photography project and it shows the local restaurants, cafés and eateries alongside the families that run them. The images dive into the new normal that these families have had to adapt to, and show us a glimpse of the stark reality they have been dealing with. This photography series is my gift to my local  Morningside restaurant community and the surrounding suburbs. Supporting your local restaurant doesn’t just keep the restaurant running, but also the families that run them.

Now that we are in level 2, go out and #supportlocal. They are again fully open for business, and so am I. Stay safe, stay strong. Kia kaha. Manja Wachsmuth 2020