IAN PReece

My interest in photography and the environment started early. I traveled with my job as a geophysicist and purchased my first film camera to capture images of the many beautiful and amazing places I was lucky enough to visit.

I switched to digital a number of years later and completed several formal qualifications.  I found that I learned more outside of the classroom and undertook several practical workshops, the highlight of which was being taught by Jonathan Chritchley who is one of the foremost fine art photographers in the world today.  I was accredited by the Royal Photographic Society in 2012. 

­Whilst trekking in the Himalayas I partnered with the Hindustan Trekking company, becoming their principal photographer and establishing a business running on-location photography workshops in the Himalayas. 

I created a portfolio of images from this partnership which formed the basis of my first successful commercial solo exhibition.  Since then I have run regular solo exhibitions in the UK and New Zealand as well as having images on display in a number of private galleries.  I was interviewed by BBC Radio for my one of my exhibitions, Images of India, in 2014.

New Zealand has always been a second home and we settled in the Coromandel Peninsula where we started a regeneration project in Kuaotunu, one of the most beautiful areas of the Pacific Coastline.  I set up Seascape Photographic Adventures in 2015, running practical workshops for photographers from around the world.

I am chair of the Mercury Bay Art Escape, one of New Zealand’s leading art experiences and am a founder member of the 10 Artists in Kuaotunu, an exhibiting arts collective with several internationally acclaimed artists.  My work is used by several leading environmental organisations to promote the conservation and protection of some of our most treasured places. My work is also endorsed by Destination Coromandel.

I am also a trained chef thanks to the New Zealand School of Food and Wine.