KEY POINTS:
Lyttelton photographer Dean Mackenzie has been awarded New Zealand Institute of Professional Photographers Photographer of the Year.
Mackenzie, whose portfolio received nine medal awards, is self-taught and has only been in the business for three years.
Mackenzie, 37, discovered photography in his late 20s, as a traveller. He bought a small SLR camera, struggled through reading the manual, and taught himself the basics.
His early assignments included skiing and rock climbing shoots.
Mackenzie came home to Christchurch in 1999 and started his own photography business in 2004.
Using Photoshop as his darkroom, Mackenzie has developed a unique style that mixes cinematic lighting techniques with rich post-production saturation. The result is one of hyper-realism, which is evocative of an oil painting.
An intimate shot of his mother and brother smoking won the NZIPP's gold award in the people category.
"I wanted to show my brother as my mum's guardian because he does look after her. His stance is slightly aggressive but not angry. It's like he's casing you out - if you said the right thing we would welcome you in but he's on guard."
The pair are smoking cigarettes, which Mackenzie says, "is what they do".
