We caught up with Anne Stewart, one of our newest Accredited Professional Photographers based in Northland. Anne isn’t your typical nature photographer; she is an ecologist with a PhD in pollination biology and an MBA, who has spent the last 22 years co-managing the restoration of Tahi, a Northland private sanctuary. So, make sure to keep reading to find out more about Anne’s extraordinary journey, how science and art collide in her work, and what it means to become NZIPP Accredited….

Anne: I live with my husband John at Pataua North, in Northland. We are both ecologists. I was a MSc student on Tiri tiri matangi and my PhD was in pollination biology. I decided early in my science career that I wanted to make science work so I gained an MBA which provided a basis for senior commercial and conservation roles. I have researched birds here and overseas, and practiced pollination biology in New Zealand, USA and Japan. For the last 22 years I have co-managed the restoration of Tahi, a major Northland private sanctuary and designed large scale landscapes.

Animal behaviour and conservation have been major parts of our lives, but sport horses and standard poodles are never far from my everyday. Re-establishing a population of North Island brown kiwi here has been a highlight. The research we do incorporates photographing each individual which has revealed individual differences previously unrecorded in the literature. I am currently documenting what appear to be familial traits in North Island brown kiwi which has been greatly enhanced by the NZIPP Mentorship programme.

 

Anne: I entered the Iris Awards last year for the first time and was so surprised and delighted to be awarded the James White Memorial Award. The Conference was fun and I found the structured learning approach to awards refreshing. I was so encouraged that I decided to try for accreditation. The whole process has given me more purpose and a greater level of confidence. It has made me reflect on why I take photos and how image shapes dialogue.

 

Anne: The challenge was the story. Did they each have enough to say? Remember I get excited about a flower, does anyone else? What makes an image compelling? What does someone mean when they ask does it have a story? An early comment in the process made me realise that flowers and their role may not be well understood. Flowers dictate their intricate terms of sexuality to their animal visitors. They provide rewards both temporally and spatially, so creating the type of “sex’ they want. And there is the story. “Hand in glove” evolutionary floral syndromes, eons old but mostly unseen and unappreciated.

 

Anne: It was about an image that I thought was subtle but possibly underwhelming. The light was diffuse and soft. I had named the image SHE because it was a young chick who just sat for a portrait – so unperturbed and sure. SHE just observed me. I felt certain it was a female although that wouldn’t be known for a while.

The comment was that “SHE stood out and could I apply my technique to my other more uncontrolled wild images”. Initially I thought that was so unrealistic, finding that soft light photographing ducks, tui or dotterel chicks on a huge lake, dark forest or sand dune – impossible! Then I realised that was the key of course, and my challenge moving forward. The process of accreditation is motivating.

 

Anne: I like the surprise. If you understand your subject (plant or animal) you are generally in the right place. I relish what comes next- the uncovering of things I couldn’t have predicted. I might be there to watch a pair of stilts on a pond for example. It turns out they are ready to nest and I capture mating rituals I had never observed before. I have also been out taking dragon flies only to find the most colourful damselflies as well.

 

Anne: My calendar. I block time. Removing work schedules and other people’s priorities is important for me personally. My house floors are not always pristine.

 

Anne: It is always elephants. Tsavo National Park. I was lucky enough to have studied the research of icons Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey, Iain Douglas Hamilton and George Schaller so as a student I was mesmerised by mammal research. My desire to do post grad research on mammals came to an abrupt halt when my MSc supervisor wryly suggested that if I wanted to study elephants or chimpanzees, he had an opportunity for large mammal work at the Zoo on black buck antelopes. I studied birds on Tiri tiri matangi (before it became an international success), and taught animal behaviour. Elephants still lurk…but as my skills have increased revealing the intricacies of what I understand of NZ flora and fauna is as exciting.

 

Anne: My wish is to create a compelling reason to stop and consider the beauty that comes from intricate detail and the value of the individual.

Nature is incredibly sophisticated and it is a privilege to make images that reveal this. For example, the architecture of feathers is mind blowing but not obvious. Photography brings this to life.

I think many people are disconnected from nature. Their appreciation of it is vicarious and frequently fictional, fuelled by the “fictional realities” of social media. If their understanding is fictional what hope does the remaining biodiversity have? Worse still we are deluged by a never-ending stream of images of yet another elephant or tiger like a form of Victorian animal collection- a superstore of relics and trophies. An amorphous crowd of the anonymous.

In contrast it is hard to turn away from the individual. It is much easier to dismiss biodiversity loss if you think there are replacements. The notion of a species allows us to believe that we can just replace any that get destroyed by releasing others. It doesn’t work like that. They are not rubber stamps of each other. Species are collections of individuals with elaborate social structures, with intimate knowledge of mates and neighbours and their habitat. I want people to ponder the worth of the individual much as they would a human. The harrier that is killed on the road is part of a collapsing house of cards.

Finally, I believe the image is the proof, the evidence, the reminder, without which the world will forget.

 

Forest or dune, wetland and lake.

I never leave home without my Gitzo Systematic Tripod.

 

 

Anne: I have much to learn and I am grateful for the opportunity to join a collegial group of photographers who care about the art of photography.