Esther Bunning

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Esther is a Wairarapa-based photographic artist and storyteller, using the camera as a creative tool to explore light, abstraction and atmosphere. Her work moves beyond traditional photography through innovative in-camera techniques, resulting in images that feel intuitive, distinctive and deeply personal.

Her floral series, The JOY Collection, brings together photography with influences from painting, drawing, texture and light, forming a vibrant body of work centred on colour, emotion and joy. Alongside this, her silk landscapes offer soft, flowing interpretations that blur the line between fabric and land, while series such as Landscapes of Intimacy and Wahine Solitude explore presence, absence and the relationship between the female form and the natural world.

Esther is a Double Grand Master and Honorary Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography. She is also Chair of the Greytown Art Gallery and one of its founding members.

Her work has received significant recognition, including a Highly Commended Award at the Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History Art Review presented by Sotheby’s International Realty, and finalist placements in Changing Threads Contemporary Textile Fibre Awards (2024), the Waikato Museum National Contemporary Art Award (2023) and the Parkin Drawing Prize (2022 and 2021). Internationally, she received an Honourable Mention and Top 5 Juror’s Choice at the International Photography Awards in 2021.

She is a three-time recipient of NZIPP Creative Photographer of the Year (2023, 2021, 2020) and was named New Zealand Professional Photographer of the Year in 2020. She was also awarded the NZ Pacific Studio ANZAC Bridge Fellowship in 2020–2021.