The visits to New Zealand were part of three years Nelson spent travelling the world to photograph indigenous people from 35 tribes.
He took his large plate field camera from Africa to Tibet, the Siberian Arctic, Mongolia, and Jammu and Kashmir. From the Pacific, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea also feature.
He said New Zealand differed from the other countries visited, which were predominantly developing nations where many tribespeople still lived traditional lives. He chose to include Maori because he saw them as an example of a people who had ensured their tradition survived development because it was nurtured.
"The project was looking for the last 'untouched' people. For the Maori, that's not the case, but their traditions and ta moko are still very much part of their daily existence," Nelson said.
"Maybe I'm wrong, but the way I saw and felt it, the more contemporary generation of Maori are really starting to get a grip on their history and identity, but they're bringing that in a balanced way into the contemporary world.
"In a lot of parts of the world, such as America, they've lost all identity."
The photographs are deliberately highly staged and directed. Nelson describes them as "romantic" and stylised, inspired partly by the photographs of native Americans by Edward S. Curtis in the early 20th century.
"By using an old camera, the sitter has to be very patient and still. It gives an intensity and stillness to the portrait."
It was a deliberate contrast to the documentary style in which tribespeople were usually photographed. "They are usually photographed going about their normal lives - how they live, how they crawl through the mud, and often not with respect. I wanted to give them the respect we give ourselves."
Nelson plans to revisit many of his subjects, this time with the BBC after it contacted him wanting to do a documentary on cultural identity.
