ENTERING AND ATTENDING IRIS AWARDS THIS YEAR
There’s that mantra that growth comes from discomfort. I’m often telling myself this when I’m on a long run or I’m pushing myself at 6am at the gym. It’s a regular discomfort that I’m ‘comfortable’ with.
But when it comes to putting your personal work up in front of the leading photographers in the country for judging... and you’re squirming, sitting in a world of discomfort, it can be hard to recall that mantra immediately.
This year I entered the Iris photo awards for the second time as an accredited NZIPP photographer. Last year I won a gold. This year was my difficult second album - how could I top the high of that recognition?
I approached it was a vulnerable heart and earnest enthusiasm. I planned and coordinated three separate shoots for entries in the Portrait In-camera category. I considered my unit stills work and what might be award worthy for entry into the Documentary category. I also considered my personal work for wildcard entries into Documentary and Landscape.
In total I entered nine images (eight print and one digital) and came home with four awards. Thats pretty great right? The remaining five were commended as high professional standard and that’s pretty great also.
THE MAKING OF MY AWARD IMAGES
portrait in-camera
This category is for images captured in camera and with minimal editing. No photoshopping, cloning, composites etc.
bowtie otto
This portrait was awarded a BRONZE medal with this capture of star talent Otto Wiig.
This was a collaboration with:
Model Otto Wiig (signed with Kirsty Bunny Management)
💄Makeup by Caroline Hope
💇Hair by Te Warena
🧶Styling by Erin Hill
🕶Bowtie from NZ's Poet Laureate Chris Tse
CAMEO TE WARENA
This portrait was awarded SILVER medal.
Te Warena, my dear friend, is a hair and makeup artist. We met on a film set maybe three years ago and I just knew we had to collaborate.
I loved getting to know Te Warena across various projects and for a long time imagined we would bring to life my idea:
👑A portrait reminiscent of a cameo brooch
👑A character with an impossibly-high beehive defying gravity and society's expectations
👑Amy Winehouse eyeliner that highlighted the strength of this persona
👑A collection of past and present life trinkets embedded in the hair (referencing those memories we carry with us). The scissors are a nod to Te Warena's profession, and her family heirlooms from loved ones who have passed.
🍒The cherry on top is a special earring from my collection.
Te Warena created the beehive wig, and brought the outfit to the session. It all came together beautifully in the studio. I created a frame within a frame, which required handy work from my husband Bevan, so that I could stand it in front of my subject, light the two separate planes, and photograph through the frame. This required a high f-stop to achieve sharpness in the frame and sharpness in my subject who had to sit far enough away from the frame to be lit beautifully and separately from the light hitting the frame. I've included a behind-the-scenes snap of that setup on my Instagram. No assistant. Just me and Te Warena and a two light setup.
Both Te Warena and Otto were photographed in Catherine Cattanach's studio in Brooklyn. Thank you Catherine!
landscape
This category is for landscape images captured in camera and with minimal editing. No photoshopping, cloning, composites etc.
WALKING TO THE URUPĀ
This was awarded a BRONZE. There was beautiful robust conversations among the judges about my choice of composition for this landscape. I’m so thrilled that one of the judges ‘got it’. My intentional choices to align the trees, the crosses of the power lines and the cemetery in the distance. This is a personal image that I captured while walking with whānau to the urupā and when I saw the scene I felt compelled to photograph it. A moment’s pause on a hokoi.
documentary
This category is for images that capture the authenticity of a scene without direction or manipulation, and with minimal editing. No photoshopping, cloning, composites etc.
On the set of THE UNTOLD TALES OF TŪTEREMOANA
Winning an award in the documentary category for one of my film stills was a personal goal that I'm chuffed to have achieved this year at Iris 2024.
My SILVER award is for a moment captured on set during the filming of THE UNTOLD TALES OF TŪTEREMOANA in the Wairarapa. The set and costume design was gorgeous, and this moment captures the actress Ngahuia taking a beat between takes while the crew were relocating gear. The serenity of this scene makes me so happy. And I'm so happy the judges agreed,
Thank you Sharlene and RickyLee at Sweetshop & Green, Director Hiona Henare, and star Ngahuia for your support in entering this image into the awards.
The work of the Honours Council at NZIPP to host and run the Iris Awards is greatly appreciated. There's nothing quite like this awards experience internationally, especially with the live judging where you can sit in the room and witness the critiques in real time. For the second year in a row I've gained so much from the entire process of selecting and creating my work, submitting, and listening to the judging process. A huge thank you to NZIPP for this annual event.
If you'd like to read about my previous year's experience, I wrote about it in this blog 'I won some awards and it was hard work'.
