Photography winners at the Canon Media Awards 2013

Photography winners at the Canon Media Awards 2013

New Zealand’s top photojournalists were recognised in red carpet style at the Canon Media Awards held in Auckland this evening.

The supreme award of Senior Press Photographer of the Year was awarded to Stephen Parker from the Rotorua Daily Post. His winning portfolio included some of the most striking photos that have appeared in New Zealand’s media over the past year.

Stephen’s diverse portfolio included tense images of the Aotearoa Not For Sale Hikoi, the moment Ngaire Tukiwaho was sentenced to jail and a candid action shot of the craze that swept the globe in 2012, Gangnam Style. Judges commented on Stephen’s ability to capture strong emotion, drama and humour in his images.

Emma Allen from the Marlborough Express was named Best Junior Press Photographer, making this the third year in a row that a Marlborough Express photographer has won the award. The judges were impressed with Emma’s technical ability and believe that she is ‘one to watch’ in the future.

Yusuke Mizoguchi, Managing Director of Canon New Zealand, says, “This section of the Awards always means a great deal to us. Canon has supported New Zealand’s most talented photojournalists at the Awards for seven years now and we are continually amazed by the calibre of photos we see submitted.

“It is always a great moment when the winning photographers are announced. We are very proud to be able to help support the outstanding achievements of New Zealand’s finest photographic talent,” says Mizoguchi.

Best News Picture was awarded to Kent Blechynden from The Dominion Post for his powerful image of the clash at Civic Square as Occupy Wellington protestors were evicted.

Richard Robinson from The New Zealand Herald won Best Photo Essay for his breath taking photographs of a pod of humpback whales, the same award he won in 2011. Whilst Iain McGregor from The Press was presented Best Sports Picture for his striking image of Andrea Hewitt training ahead of the London Olympics.

This year saw the first awards given in two new categories being Best Feature Photo and Best Portrait, which were taken home by Natasha Martin from the Timaru Herald and Robert Kitchin of the Manuwatu Standard respectively.

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