New Zealand Geographic photographer awards announced

  • 29/10/2016
A firefighter (Supplied/Iain McGregor)
A firefighter (Supplied/Iain McGregor)

The New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year award has been claimed by Christchurch photojournalist Iain McGregor.

Mr McGregor's winning portfolio includes the bush fires that raged through Canterbury last summer, burnouts in muscle cars, a kapa haka festival, Prince Harry playfully engaging with a toddler, and tourists dwarfed by Fox Glacier, even as the glacier retreats from view.

New Zealand Geographic photographer awards announced

A kapa haka festival (Iain McGregor)

"The range and quality of his work are extraordinary. There's also a really compassionate thread that tells a story about the shared values of New Zealanders," says James Frankham, New Zealand Geographic editor and convenor of judges.

"His images are disarming. They make you rethink your values, confront your prejudices, or connect with people in circumstances very different from your own. This is what makes photojournalism so engaging, and it's at work every time Iain releases his shutter."

New Zealand Geographic photographer awards announced

A burn-out (Iain McGregor)

The 2016 competition was a hotly contested field, with 47 finalists. Six category winners were honoured last night, with three special prizes awarded.

Shaun Jeffers won the landscape category for an image made in near-total darkness at the deepest point of a Waitomo cave.

The timelapse winner, Hamish Wright, had made an impressive video of the aurora australis, while Murray McCulloch won the People's Choice accolade for a close-up of water droplets on a wasp - an image that gained more than double the votes of its closest competitor.

Talman Madsen took home the Young Photographer of the Year award for his aerial shot of larches near Lake Tekapo, the treetops taking on an unfamiliar texture when seen from above.

New Zealand Geographic photographer awards announced

The Fox Glacier (Iain McGregor)

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