Beyond the Face 2026

For five years, Beyond the Face has quietly challenged one of society’s most persistent assumptions: that growing older means becoming less visible, less relevant, or less capable. The annual exhibition from Age Concern Nelson Tasman invites the community to pause, look beyond appearances, and discover the stories behind a remarkable group of local older people whose lives have been shaped by service, adventure, creativity, leadership, family, hardship, achievement, and contribution.

At its heart, Beyond the Face is a storytelling project. Award-winning photographer Tim Cuff captures portraits that reveal personality and presence, while writer Fiona Terry develops the accompanying life stories that give context, depth, and voice to each participant. Together, the portraits and storyboards create something far richer than a photographic exhibition. They become a record of lives lived fully and a reminder that age tells us very little about a person's character, wisdom, passions, or ongoing contribution.

Over the years, the project has introduced audiences to people who have built communities, raised families, broken barriers, pursued extraordinary careers, volunteered tirelessly, and continued to embrace new experiences well into their seventies, eighties, and nineties. Their stories consistently challenge the notion that later life is defined by decline. Instead, they reveal resilience, curiosity, humour, determination, and a continuing capacity to contribute.

For Tim Cuff, who has been involved since the exhibition began, that message remains as powerful as ever. Reflecting on the people he has photographed, he notes -“All the people we've met and had the privilege of interviewing have had wonderful lives and they deserve to be able to tell their stories. If you look at the spark in the eyes of many of our Beyond the Face subjects, it's obvious that many don't feel seventy, or eighty, or even ninety.”

Fiona Terry has been equally struck by the way participants often underestimate the significance of their own experiences -“I’m constantly surprised that they often don’t consider their own stories worthy of being told, and yet they’ve all achieved such wonderful things and lived remarkable lives,” she says. Her hope for the exhibition’s legacy is simple but profound -“It’s always important to see beyond the face. People lead remarkable lives and it’s not until we stop to talk to them about their experiences that we appreciate the challenges they've overcome, how much they've contributed to the community, created, built, seen, achieved, continue to achieve – and how remarkable they really are.”

More than an exhibition, Beyond the Face is an act of recognition. It preserves local stories, strengthens understanding between generations, and gives older people both a face and a voice. In doing so, it reminds us that ageing is not a weakness to be overlooked, but a source of experience, perspective, and value that enriches the entire community.

This year’s Beyond the Face exhibit will be unveiled at the Energy Centre, Founders Heritage park on Thursday 1 October 2026 as part of Age Concern Nelson Tasman’s 50th Jubilee event.