Janyne Fletcher was named the Otago-Southland photographer of the year by the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers (NZIPP).
As well as being named the best in Otago and Southland, she won the NZIPP landscape photographer of the year for the third consecutive year and the NZIPP’s Iris award for highest scoring print.
Fletcher has been a professional photographer since 2006 and won her first bronze and silver Iris awards in 2009.
In 2016, she opened her Ranfurly workshop and gallery and in 2019, achieved grand master status with the NZIPP, the organisation’s highest distinction.
It seemed 2024 was a special year as she was being rewarded for her works that were more adventurous and more reflective of herself creatively, Fletcher said.
The rigorous and challenging process of having a photo submitted and judged by panels in competitions was a brilliant learning process. The feedback provided was part of the reason she had been successful with her photography, she said.
She likened the work she did with a camera to the work of a painter with their brushes.
"For me, photography is like a medium. A bit like a painter might use paints or pastels, I use my camera," she said.
