Cameraman's Work Recognised

The Waikato Times

Wildlife photographer Phil Brown takes about 30,000 pictures a year, but he gets embarrassed if someone asks to buy one.

Mr Brown, 65, has been taking photographs for more than 50 years, and is a stalwart of the Maungatautari Ecological Island. He's been nominated for a Kiwi Battler award because of his years of voluntary service to the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust, photographing the island's species and taking visitors on guided walks. The nomination from described Mr Brown as "synonymous with generosity of time and knowledge", and noted that since 2002 "he has voluntarily battled to ensure that the biodiversity of the mountain is shared and understood by as many people as possible".

Mr Brown said he had always been fascinated by New Zealand's biodiversity, and he had accepted the Kiwi Battler nomination in an effort to raise awareness of the need to protect the country's endangered wildlife."I do night walks, and that's my line of talk for those. Photography is what led me into it. "People always seem interested when I do talks about wildlife – I can tell a story about every picture I have taken." Mr Brown reeled off the names of a range of species affected by introduced mammal pests, and said New Zealand's wildlife was unique, diverse and, in some cases, species pre-dated the dinosaurs. "Everything about our wildlife is extremely ancient."

Mr Brown's work on Maungatautari includes GPS mapping trees, bird handling and relocation, and overnight observations. He's also about to invest in a new camera to take videos of some of the animals on the mountain.