new zealand Oct 2012

Match Photographers is widely regarded as New Zealand’s premiere photographic agency and has built a reputation for delivering high-end creative output and award  winning print campaigns. The company represents a very select group of the country’s most acclaimed advertising photographers - several are included in Lurzer’s Archive 'Top 200 Worldwide' while their list of awards is as long as it is prestigious. 

With over a decade of experience in the industry, Match brings invaluable levels of knowledge and expertise to the production of its clients’ shoots. 

Working both in New Zealand and internationally, Match has forged enduring relationships with the industry’s most inspiring agencies, creatives, clients and brands.

The Match concept is to offer a stable of New Zealand’s finest photographers, each with differing and complimentary areas of specialisation. That, coupled with the very best personal service, has made Match the most successful agency in the country.

Based in Auckland, New Zealand, International Rescue represents a select group of leading commercial photographers and provides full service line production.

The company's photographers are known as the best in their fields, with a few holding Lurzer's Archive 'Top 200' placements. This, coupled with their professionalism and international experience, ensures any brief can be executed.

Production services include a versatile team of highly experienced producers and conveniently placed production offices on both the North and South Islands. With a trusted network of industry professionals, the company has access to the best talent, locations, crews and equipment in New Zealand. Whether dealing with freight, visas and carnets or high-speed data transfers, International Rescue can be relied upon to handle the logistics.

Photographers include David Shields, Frances Melhop, Kristian Frires, Lewis Mulatero, Neil Bailey, Nic Staveley and Urs Buhlman.

The Collective Force, New Zealand’s first photography agency, was established in 1996. With a roll-call of world-class talent and a can-do ethos, it delivers a highly professional, personalised production service.

Following an extensive career in advertising where he was a highly respected art buyer, Jason Jones has harnessed a diverse stable of award winning, specialist photographers - one of whom is ranked number four internationally on Lürzer’s Archive - to build on the agency’s track record of success and provide visionary solutions tailored to individual campaigns.

From quoting and casting to realising the most complicated briefs, Jason and his team thrive on partnering with clients to come up with the most effective solutions. Clients can expect the results to be delivered on time and within budget. What’s more, they’re great people to be around, who find collaborating on creative jobs the greatest reward.

Representing Andreas Smetana, Charles Howells, Charlie, Chris Lewis, Kieran Scott, Sara Orme, Spid and Tom Roberton, The Collective Force is proud to represent a highly talented select team of specialist photographers.

Based in Queenstown, Lighthouse specialises in the highest end of stills photography, with particular expertise in car productions.

At the helm, Nadine Ivey has over 22 years experience in advertising. Her depth of understanding of the photographer-client relationship ensures both parties achieve their desired outcome.

Lighthouse has some of the most acclaimed location scouts worldwide, a critical and much respected part of the creative processes.

In the past year, Lighthouse has produced two successful Porsche 911 campaigns in New Zealand for photographer Stephan Romer.

Check out Lighthouse Lite on the website for a few recent works; a lighter budget, lighter crew, but still large on production.

"Sweat?"

• 1 celebrity photographer
• 1 supermodel
• 1 senior fashion editor
• 6 crew members
• 2 days shooting
• 12 venues
• 30 costume changes
• 100’s of inquisitive Wellingtonians
• 2 days prep
• 20 shots
• 1 tight budget

"No sweat." Just ask Orlando Bloom (Photographer), Andrew Gold (Senior Photography Editor, The New York Times Style Magazine), and their 1.7 million readers.

Our Production Team (OPT): "We sweat the small stuff, so you don’t have to."

OPT is a full service production house specialising in stills photography, offering outstanding production values and a wealth of experience and knowledge to guarantee a great shot every time.

Great ads and awesome images are the result of a cumulative effort. The collaboration between a good creative brief and an experienced team to pull it all together is what reddennis is all about. The best organisation, talent, pre and post production, locations, crew, truck loads of experience and competitive quotes are all part of the service. The company offers a totally open quoting system, combined with very competitive rates which are sympathetic to budgets. A complete package from start to finish.

Services include photography, photographic stills and moving image production, budget management, location scouting, film/camera crews, hair/make-up/styling, casting, set builders, equipment and studio hire.

"We're passionate about film and take special pride in our line production service for international clients filming in NZ, Australia and the South Pacific."

In addition to the diversity of breathtaking locations and an abundance of talent, Curious provides top shelf equipment manned by the region's best can-do crews - all alongside a full service production office housing offline and online facilities. Its clients are world class and many have become friends eager to come back.

Email Curious for a quick response quote. 

Sprout TV is a small but perfectly formed production company, creating dynamic content through film, TV, video and digital production.

"We enjoy delivering tailored solutions for our domestic and international clients."

Sprout can provide the whole package, from development to delivery or just one element along the way. We specialise in helphing productions of all sizes coming to NZ to film.

Being small, we keep costs down and with access to the finest crew, talent and facilities in NZ, we deliver the very best value for money.

"Just let us know how we can help - and we will!"

Imagecraft Limited specialises in creative retouching and 3D/CGI work, including high end compositing, illustrative and photo-realistic 3D rendering, and all consultancy and post production editing work for print and online media.

With a broad understanding of advertising, design and imagery the company brings a wealth of experience and passion to any project.

Visit the website for more information or contact Kevin Hyde to discuss ideas. 

"I first worked with Fraser on a job because no other photographer was willing to shoot a threesome in a spa pool with two Iraqi women in full ha-jib for a vodka advertisement! At the time I was stoked to find a photographer with no moral hang-ups, but looking back I realise that should have been my first warning that something was wrong, and it is that exact same moral looseness that has resulted in him threatening to distribute certain 'revealing' photographs of me if I ever hire another photographer.

"It seems that I am not alone in this predicament, as many of his clients seem to be forced to keep reusing him like I am. It's possible, I suppose, that he's doing a good job - I really have nothing to compare it to however, due to this situation. If you are planning on using Fraser I would suggest that you don't go out and celebrate with him after a good job - but if you do, don't let him bring his camera."

Simon Chesterman, Art Director.

Fraser is represented by Match Photographers.

Tim Watson has an extraordinary ability to capture truly remarkable images that consistently evoke both beauty and emotion, regardless of subject.

Tim's noted creativity and technical grounding stem from a varied international career spanning 20 years. Tim started as a darkroom and photographer's assistant in London and then entered the UK film/TV industry, concurrently building a unit stills and fashion photography business. 

Tim now lives in Wellington NZ, working with a diverse range of local and international businesses in advertising, fashion, film/TV and architectural fields. 

Tim and his wife own Wellington photographic production rental space Studio 62.

Paul Ross Jones takes photographs of things that people want photographs of. Mostly so people will buy whatever it is that the thing in the photograph is trying to sell. Paul then uses the money he makes to rebuild old scooters and fix his house.

He also likes to skate vert but hardly does it anymore because everyone is into street skating these days so the council hasn’t bothered to repair any of the half pipes they built in the '80s. His knees are also a bit bung because he’s 43 and that’s just what happens.

Paul Ross Jones lives with Kate. They have a side project called Jack who is seven.

He is represented by Match Photographers.

Kristian Frires specialises in lifestyle, landscape and portrait photography.

His work is conceptually driven, fresh and progressive. He brings a strong understanding and technical expertise to his work, which coupled with his flair for composition and retouching have seen him win numerous awards.

Although his work has seen him traverse the globe, he is now based in New Zealand where he is drawn to the beauty of the land, light and people.

Kristian is represented by International Rescue.

Photography is an adventure for Austrian-born Andreas Smetana. It wasn’t a calling, though. Thrown into an apprenticeship after leaving school, he first fell in love with the inspiring people in the industry and his love for the work itself soon followed.

Andreas finds inspiration in the whole process that culminates in his striking images. He loves connecting with people creatively to hammer out a brief, visually pushing the boundaries to find an edge and individual flavour.

Sailing is his other great love, after family. He wanted a hobby to balance his work and, living on a small island off Sydney’s north shore, sailing was an obvious choice. Now his old Westsail 32 is his floating man shed where he can tinker as well as relax with his wife and kids. There, like in his work, he’s never bored.

Andreas is represented by The Collective Force.

Rated as being amongst the top 200 Advertising Photographers worldwide by Lurzer's Archive, Ross Brown crafts his work within an impressively wide range of styles and techniques.

Covering subject matters as diverse as landscape, people, sport, animals, still life and conceptual work, his images are classical, inherently elegant, and meticulous in detail.

Ross combines a mastery of light and form, mood and atmosphere with a strong emotive quality and sensitivity to his subject matter. He is particularly skilled at producing multiple composite images.

Ross believes every job should be finely crafted and is always involved in the retouching of his own work. He has won many prestigious awards including Gold and Bronze Lion Awards at Cannes.

He is represented by Match Photographers. 

Chris Lewis’s technical precision, natural aptitude for process and flair for lighting converge in his polished, immaculate images. But it’s not all about technique for this specialist in automotive, marine and aviation photography. He has always had a passion for cars and this distinguishes his evocative images.

His technical side flourished in an early role working in electron microscopy at the Auckland Medical School before he switched lenses to seek inspiration in a more creative way. He gained his photographic grounding in a commercial studio where he worked in the dark room before becoming a photographer’s assistant. He now gets great pleasure helping upcoming photographers on their path.

What gets him excited? A good dusting of snow on the ski fields and when he has set up a shot and the light comes right – when the magic happens.

Chris is represented by The Collective Force.

Nic is a graduate of the New Zealand Film School. While living across Belgium, Switzerland and the UK he discovered his love for portrait photography. He is a passionate photographer who is inspired by the execution of strong concepts, stylised portraits and the emotions they evoke. He often manipulates natural light and colour bringing a beautiful cinematic personality to his work.

Unlike many, Nic is at his best when given set limitations. His innate lighting ability coupled with his eye for composition and distinct retouching skills produces highly polished work.  Having shot in some of the best New Zealand Locations, Nic has an ability to create a distinct kiwi feel which captures the essence of a person or place in a uniquely New Zealand way.

His client list includes Fonterra, Line 7, Harper Collins, TVNZ. He is represented by International Rescue.

Charles is a rare photographer who is gifted both technically and as artist behind the lens. He’s especially passionate about the whole creative process. He specialises in everything from generating ideas, developing technical solutions and then perfecting his stunning images in post-production.

His work appears in top fashion magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Karen, No, Grazia, Pilot and Black. His advertising clients are extensive, including Coca Cola, Microsoft, Sony Japan, Samsung, Westfield, 42 Below, dB Breweries Beer, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mini, Nikon, Greenpeace, Vodafone, Midori, Johnson & Johnson, Panasonic, Unilever, L’Oréal and M.A.C.. In New York, Charles worked on shoots with celebrities such as Britney spears, Beyonce, Jay Z, the Black Eyed Peas, Kelis and Pharrell williams, as well as advertisers L’Oréal Paris, Hugo Boss, Anna Sui and Pepsi.