International award-winning photographer, Charlotte Piho officially opened her new gallery in Muri on Friday night.

Piho said the experience of opening the gallery was “overwhelming in a beautiful way”.

“I’m very happy and just very humbled,” she said.

“I think the thing I really liked was there was a mix of so many generations. You have children, you have Mamas walking around and they were all engaging in the photographs. I think that’s really special.”

The event opened with Piho’s staff doing a turou to welcome around 100 people who attended. Minister of Tourism, Patrick Arioka also shared a speech on behalf of the Prime Minister which honoured Piho’s work.

Reflecting on her work, Piho said she started with “pretty much nothing”.

“I didn’t even have a camera or anything because I flooded my camera,” Piho said about the early stages in her photography journey.

“So all it really was, was me having this passion for animals and not giving up, and people kind of believing in me which helped me believe in myself.”

She said the gallery was a testament to the love and support of the people around her.

Piho envisions younger generations stepping up into photography in the future.

She said the morning prior to the gallery opening her assistant photographer, Kato Tuara who is 19 was teaching another one of her staff members about the camera settings.

“That’s what I envisioned, it’s about training people, not to take over my business but to develop their own skills and maybe to showcase the Cook Islands in different ways.”