Congratulations to the winners of the New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year 2013. From 3400 entries, these are the finest visions of our environment and society, and this year’s contribution to the ever-expanding record of our place, and our people.
Aoraki Mt Cook National Park contains more than 140 peaks standing over 2000 metres high, and includes some 72 named glaciers which cover 40 per cent of the park’s area. Among them is Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s longest, where Jason Hosking was attracted to the soft, glowing quality of light, and the subtle tones of blue inside an ice cave. This picture was an abstract detail from a wider series he was shooting in the region as part of a book project that took him through 14 national parks over a period of four months. In all he captured several thousand frames, but the simplicity and tranquility of this picture made it his pick for this competition.
The finalists in the 2013 Photographer of the Year competition each offer a unique insight into who we are as a people, and where we live. They were shot entirely within New Zealand territory, by amateurs and professionals alike, young and old. The pictures come from locations familiar to all of us, and other places few have the opportunity to visit.
And this year, like no other, many of the finalists feature the ocean realm. Some 96 per cent of our Exclusive Economic Zone is covered by salt water, and 80 per cent of our nation’s biodiversity lives in the seas around us, so it should be little surprise that many of the finalists have turned their lenses upon the marine subjects in 2013, despite the enormous technical challenges of working in that environment.
New Zealand Geographic would like to congratulate Richard Robinson, supreme winner and New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year 2013.
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2013: RICHARD ROBINSON
The photographer with the best portfolio of images is selected from all of the entries to be awarded the highest prize and the title New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year 2013. They must demonstrate technical excellence, but most of all, an exceptional and original approach to the craft of photography; at once journalism and art. This year, the photographer who rose to the top was Richard Robinson, a press photographer for the New Zealand Herald, long-time contributing photographer to New Zealand Geographic, and winner of this award back in 2010. Robinson’s images are exceptional by any measure. From a juvenile green turtle recuperating at Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater World to the extraordinarily rare sight of a leopard anemone adrift in the blue during a little-understood and rarely documented part of its life cycle, these are images that communicate the essential qualities of life in New Zealand—unusual, fragile and often poorly understood. It’s hard to appreciate the difficulty involved in capturing images of this quality and gaining proximity to wild animals in their natural realm; a never-ending battle against salt water, limited light, and the tyranny of odds involved in drawing close enough to rare and retiring creatures. In this Robinson excels, and draws us all closer to understanding and appreciating that world.
