Thunder of a distant war

Aotearoa couldn’t be further from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but social media and global news make the war all too close for the many New Zealanders who have roots in the region. Keep reading...

Wallabies galore in the Bay of Plenty

This week, the above photo of a paddock in Rotorua stacked with wallabies made headlines. That's because wallabies aren't supposed to be there at all—the picture is taken through the thermal scope of a pest contractor.

Wallabies are so well suited to life in New Zealand that they're busy eating their way through the landscapes of the Bay of Plenty and Canterbury—in fact, they've reached plague numbers for the second time in a century, and they keep escaping from the containment zones designed to hold them back. Keep reading...

A tale of two currents

A proposed hydro scheme on the Waitaha River, which the government rejected in 2019, is back in the headlines. This week, Westpower announced in partnership with Ngāi Tahu that it would seek a reconsideration of its application to develop the hydro scheme. Environment Minister David Parker declined the original application three years ago, citing significant impacts to the natural character of the area.

What's at stake? Morgan Gorge, a spectacular chasm and a showpiece of whitewater power. In engineering parlance, the gorge would be “dewatered” by the hydro scheme. In plain language, it would be drained dry—or close to it. Keep reading...

A story in a photo

In 2022 we welcome a new sponsor, Leica, to the PhotoStory category. It's different from other categories in Photographer of the Year in that the photographer selects between 4 and 6 images that work together to tell a story, rather than a single picture. And because it can sometimes take a while to shoot a story, photographers are allowed to go further back in their archives—anything from January 1, 2020 is allowed under the rules.

Perhaps because it's harder to shoot, we usually receive less entries into this category, which results a greater opportunity to become a finalist, or win! so the odds are with you for the Leica PhotoStory category... dive into your archive and find your best story. Enter here...

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The photographer who challenged Aotearoa

Fiona Clark, now in her late 60s, lives and works in a decommissioned Taranaki dairy factory, its disused freezing chamber converted into a darkroom. Clark’s old dog Meg pads habitually through living spaces piled with vintage clothing, china curios, and other cultural salvage. It is an unlikely HQ for someone who once lit a fire under conservative New Zealand with glamorous images of the emerging gay, lesbian, and transgender community that made Auckland’s Karangahape Road red-light district its home. Keep reading...

Pick-a-path

In Palmerston North, it doesn’t take a big effort to go bush. There are plenty of pathways close to the city that offer a glimpse at the region’s impressive biodiversity. Keep reading...