The next day Ms Szarvas was shocked to open Facebook and find Mr Brimblecombe had loaded up nearly 60 photos of the flooded area around Taupo Quay, with a link to his website where people could buy prints of the photos.
Mr Brimblecome's Facebook post accompanying the photos said he had taken the photos between 10pm and 4am when the flooding peaked.
"Needless to say, I got my feet and the camera wet. Thanks to the NZ police and the civil defence people who let me wade through the flooding," Mr Brimblecombe said in his post.
Jolt Cafe is also holding an exhibition of Mr Brimblecombe's flood prints.
Ms Szarvas said she was angry Mr Brimblecombe was able to spend so much time in the flooded area when she herself was told to leave. She's also annoyed that Mr Brimblecombe is selling his photos.
"People who have been affected by the floods don't want to see these photos. The only people who would buy them are those who don't know what the floods were really like."
Ms Szarvas said she would feel better about Mr Brimblecombe selling the photos if he was donating some of the money to flood relief.
Mr Brimblecombe did donate his images to the flood supplement produced by the Wanganui Chronicle. Proceeds from the sale of that publication are being donated to flood relief funds.
Ms Szarvas said she does not know yet if her business will be able to continue.
"For a small business like us to have lost two weeks of income is huge."
Ms Szarvas also said Mr Brimblecombe's photos were not an accurate representation of the floods.
"People see these beautiful photos and they think the Wanganui floods were not really so bad. But they were not beautiful. It was loud, and it was smelly and it was really scary. It was not twinkling lights on the water.
"Every building that has been photographed beautifully has had devastation," Ms Szarvas said.
Mr Brimblecombe told the Wanganui Chronicle he was completely open about what he was doing on the night of June 20. He said he encountered several security guards and police officers during the night, none of whom ordered him to leave.
"I got the feeling they let me in because they understood this was a big event that needed to be documented.
"At the beginning a security guard warned me that he was telling people to leave the area.
"I said I would like to stay, and he said it was at my own risk."
Mr Brimblecombe said he did not believe there was any danger in being in the floodwaters.
He said he saw other people walking in the flooded streets. A Wanganui Chronicle photographer was also in the area at this time, taking photos for publication.
Mr Brimblecombe said he had not sold enough prints to cover his costs, but had donated the use of the photos to the Wanganui Chronicle.
He said the photos' colours had been altered slightly to be more vivid but otherwise they had been processed no more than usual for digital photos.
"The conditions were ideal for taking photos. There was no wind, the rain had stopped, and it was calm and tranquil.
"It actually was a beautiful night, and that's just a fact," Mr Brimblecombe said.
Senior Sergeant Andrew McDonald from Whanganui Police said entry into the cordoned area of Taupo Quay during the flood was unauthorised by police.
"Any person entering the cordon did so at their own risk. Emergency services during this time were stretched because of other flood-related priorities, with everyone doing the best they could to make sure people were safe," Mr McDonald said.
