UCOL produces NZ’s best photographers

UCOL produces NZ’s best photographers

Palmerston North photographer and UCOL lecturer, Paul Gummer was named New Zealand Photographer of the Year for 2009 at the national Epson/NZIPP Iris Professional Photography Awards.

“The awards contribute to my ongoing creative improvement as I believe in the pursuit of personal excellence both for my own professional development and also so I have something to give back to the students I teach,” said Mr. Gummer.

“I photograph what I’m passionate about and believe an award winning image is mysterious in that it is up to the viewer’s imagination to complete the story,” said Mr. Gummer. “It should draw the viewer in, and trigger a response whether it is positive or negative or even what the photographer intended.”

Mr. Gummer’s win, in association with that of his students and peers, confirms that UCOL produces some of the country’s best photographers.

UCOL students look set to follow in the footsteps of one of their lecturers with a number of them achieving individual success in the Student/Assistant category. The collective efforts of the students lead to UCOL being name Tertiary Institute of the Year. Nearly half of the photographs which were awarded gold medals at the Iris Awards were entered by both past and present UCOL students and staff.

And if further evidence is required to prove that UCOL is one of the leading institutes for photography in the country, UCOL graduate Bradley Boniface was named Student of the Year last year and went on to beat his more experienced counterparts to be named Creative Photographer this year – the very same title Mr. Gummer had obtained the year before.

Following tradition, the winner of the student category – Kevin Bone - is also from UCOL. The win supported Mr. Bone’s decision to give up his engineering career to study photography and guaranteed him an A+ result for his UCOL assignment.

Former UCOL Digital Imaging lecturer Shelley Amerio-Higgins won the people category and highest scoring colour print. She was also a Photographer of the Year finalist.

In addition to winning the overall title, Mr. Gummer was also named Landscape Photographer of the Year at the awards.

“Paul’s creativity is underpinned by technical excellence and that extends to the presentation of the photograph itself,” said Head Judge, Mike Langford. “The ideas were original and the execution of them, gold as well.”

ENDS

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