Harry Culy (b. 1986) is a contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand photographer and artist based in Te Whanganui a Tara / Wellington. His work explores the uncanny, liminal spaces, and the emotional resonances of memory, absence, and domestic and urban landscapes. Using a large format 4×5 field camera, Culy creates images that dwell in ambiguity: vacant interiors, isolated figures, and atmospheric landscapes evoke both narrative and psychological tension, asking viewers to inhabit the space between what is seen and what is felt. His photographs sit at the intersection of documentary and fiction, blending meticulous observation with poetic speculation to explore how environments and objects carry traces of human presence, history, and imagination.

Culy’s work has been exhibited widely in New Zealand and internationally, in both dealer and institutional contexts. Recent solo and collaborative exhibitions include Wishbone (2025) at Jhana Millers Gallery, a series that investigates ritual, transformation, and the uncanny in ordinary spaces, alongside works by Tyne Gordon; and Plus 1 at Jhana Millers, which showcased emerging approaches to contemporary photographic practice.

In 2025, Culy’s work was featured in The Brood at The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt — a major group exhibition of nine new commissions exploring gothic, monstrous, and psychological themes in contemporary Aotearoa art. Curated by Chelsea Nichols (Senior Curator, The Dowse Art Museum) and Aaron Lister (Senior Curator, City Gallery Wellington) through their collaborative project Curator of Screams, the exhibition presented works by Iann An, Grace Crothall, Harry Culy, Wesley John Fourie, Cassie Freeth, Brad Logan Heappey, Theo MacDonald, Nathan Taare, and Tia and Ming Ranginui. Culy’s series in the show explores interior and exterior spaces that feel familiar yet disquieting, suggesting unseen narratives and emotional landscapes that are both intimate and uncanny.

Recognized with the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate award in 2021 and the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award. Culy holds a Master of Fine Arts from Toi Rauwhārangi, Massey University. He is also the founder of Bad News Books, a small press photobook publisher devoted to carefully crafted photographic publications. Across all facets of his practice, Culy investigates how imagery carries memory, how absence can be felt as presence, and how ordinary environments can evoke extraordinary psychological and emotional states.

Harry Culy will exhibit recent work in a new group exhibition “Dark Matter” in May 2026.