A reflection on what it means to hold national and international recognition in portraiture.
Every year for the past nine years, I’ve entered the NZIPP Iris Awards.
And every year, I find myself wondering why I voluntarily put myself through the nerves of having my work judged.
The New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography’s Iris Awards are an opportunity to step outside the day-to-day of running a photography business, benchmark my work against some incredibly talented photographers, receive feedback from photographers I respect greatly, and (most importantly) keep pushing myself to become better at my craft.
This year was particularly special.
I received a Gold with Distinction; 95/100 in the Portrait category, for an environmental portrait of a gentleman in his shed. I also received Gold and Silver with Distinction in the Creative category, and Silver with Distinction in Family.
Sitting in the audience and listening to five judges analyse the photographs is always a mixture of adrenaline, trepidation and relief. And the best moment is hearing them find and understand the stories I had hoped to tell through the images. And it reminded me why I love to photograph people.
Our lives are fleeting. We tend to accumulate things, but the things that matter most in the end aren't material. They're our stories, memories, relationships, moments, emotion and joy. Photography gives us a way to preserve some of that.
After 21 years in photography, I feel incredibly lucky to have developed a skill that allows me to do exactly that. And increasingly, that's where I want to take it with Luminary, creating environmental portraits that tell us something about who a person is, the life they've created and the things that make that life meaningful.
This is a little look behind the scenes at my 2026 Iris Awards experience.