2021 Iris Awards

Photographic Awards

Edgy Helen

Nude Photography Auckland

Edgy Photography Auckland

Nude Photography Auckland

Edgy Photography Auckland

Nude Photography Auckland

Edgy Photography Auckland

Nude Photography Auckland

Edgy Photography Auckland

Quarry Panorama

Travel Photography Auckland

Helen and the Snake

Nude Photography Auckland

Helen’s Look © Ilan Wittenberg 20013, Limited Edition of 9 + 2AP Order Now

Helen with Boxing Gloves

Nude Photography Auckland

The Diving Mask

Nude Photography Auckland

Helen

Mary

Portrait Photographer Auckland

Mary

Mary is 85, originally from Ireland. I chat with Mary every time we meet on my daily walks around Castor Bay. She was born in 1936 to a Catholic family of eight children (Mary was number five after four boys). Mary’s mom had to find a job when her father died and she taught orphans in a monastery. She wanted to be a teacher, but eventually found a job in a large department store in Belfast where she met Mary’s dad. Mary’s dad was an active member of the IRA (as you would) and when the conflict with the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 monarchy (God Save the Queen) ended, he became a policeman.👮‍♂️ “Those days women lost their jobs when they got married”. Mary wanted to become a nurse 👩‍⚕️ so went to England to study “it was free because the English government wanted the Irish girls to become nurses”. After getting married, Mary and her husband immigrated to New Zealand when she was 22. Knowing how to use a typewriter, Mary found a an office job when arriving to New Zealand. Five years later she had three kids who all live here. “Life was simpler then”, she says. “You would grow your own veggies in the backyard”. People need to move to the countryside. She apologised for holding the ☔ umbrella to protect from the rain.

The Gargoyle

The Notre dam Grotesque

The Gargoyle © Ilan Wittenberg 20013, Limited Edition of 9 + 2AP Buy Now

I was determined to photograph the gargoyles that guard the Notre Dame cathedral in the heart of Paris. My first attempt failed when the guard said no more visitors for the day. My second attempt failed because the guards went on strike! This photo was taken on my third attempt to see these stone-monster marvels! Some of the gargoyles laugh, one spits, others look bored, feed on prey or they grimace. Standing stoic and proud, these mythical birds and hybrid beasts are eerie witnesses to history. Catching a personal glimpse of these silent grotesque creatures was one of the highlights of my visit to Paris, and well worth the 387 steps climb to the top when the cathedral is restored and opens to the public again. This one is actually a Grotesque. Gargoyles are the ones that spout water from the roof. These awesome creatures were added during the reconstruction of the church in the 1840s. When the Nazis invaded the country during World War II, the gargoyles stood strong, withstanding a four-day German siege on the church. This print was awarded Bronze medal at the NZIPP Iris Awards!

 

Nude Photography Auckland

Taylor Blake

Nude Photography Auckland

Taylor Blake

Lying Down

Nude Photography Auckland

Lying Down

Woman on a Rock

Fine Art Photography

Woman on a Rock

Dead Wildebeest

Wildebeest

Dead Wildebeest

Man with an Apron

Faces of Morocco

Man with an Apron

Hippopotamus

Tanzania

Hippopotamus

Wayne and Jennie

Faces of Humanity

Roma and Emmanuel

Nude Photography Auckland

Roma

I struggled with identity,
I still do, but I’m learning.

I’ve always struggled with mental health issues and after going through multiple violent trauma and being Passed around a very flawed mental health system, a few years ago finally I got diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which is 110% a completely misunderstood disorder to say the least.

It can affect multiple aspects of your life and is different for everyone who experiences it. For me, my sense of self and emotional control and thought patterns are mostly affected.
Which means I can be very reactive to situations, sometimes more than what’s accepted by others and always more than I wanted to.
My thoughts can get mixed up because there are too many, or I have one thought that does not leave my mind and it can become an obsession.
Knowing who I am as a person and what I want can also be challenging. 

I teach children’s yoga and mindfulness as it was something that helped me when nothing else could and to hopefully set up our kids for an open minded self-accepting future with skills, tools and the ability to cope better with the roller coaster of our emotional stressful lives.

I like to model so I know exactly who to be at that moment.
I find it freeing, almost trapping myself in a ‘character’ or a ‘setting’ you could say.
For a short period of time I know what to do, who to be and how to do it.

I said yes to taking part in this display of beautiful women for the chance to feel like I am exactly who I am meant to be for a short period of time.
To empower other women to feel like they can be themselves not just for a short period of time but all of the time,
To feel beautiful and strong, ugly and weak, put together and messy all at the same time because that’s what life is and we should be so fucking proud of it.
You can’t have one without the other.
You may not be able to have everything you have ever wanted.
But you can have your own slice of perfection and that perfection is you.

Bare Truth

Queen Deemi

Faces of Humanity

Queen Deemi

Jennie and Wayne

Faces of Humanity

Faces of Humanity

The view through the window…

Portrait Photographer Auckland

Sophie

The view through the window…

These eyes have seen
my mother survive cancer
my dog being put to sleep
my grandfather’s funeral

 

These eyes have seen
learning-to-read books; uni textbooks
laptop screen at 3am before a deadline(s)
celebrations at graduation parties

 

These eyes have seen
faces of new friends
friends I no longer talk to
faces changing, growing up (old)

 

These eyes have seen
numbers on calorie-counting apps
worth through a weight on a scale
friends in hospital (anorexia)

 

These eyes have seen
NYE and sunrise at Tawharanui
bull sharks (no cage) in Fiji
climate protest marches in Madrid

 

These eyes have seen
glaciers in New Zealand
fjords in Norway
northern Lights in Finland

 

These eyes have seen
Disneyland on my brother’s birthday
Gallipoli cemeteries on ANZAC Day
too many death tolls on the News

 

These eyes have seen
dreams – forgotten, come true, work-in-progress
love – unconditional, and conditional
myself – stronger, wiser, more loving
you – unknown, but endless potential