With windmills like a garden of flowers and historic buildings turned into candy-coloured clusters, the gallery and work space of photographer Janyne Fletcher, of Ranfurly, is a marvel of creative photography.
Her highly original works expand well beyond typical landscapes, as she manipulates images, colour and form to create unique prints.
“I use Photoshop for a lot of my work – I suppose I’m a frustrated painter.”
A print that looks like parquet flooring on closer inspection is formed of cut-up mountainscapes.
Bantam chickens in a row are turned into a police identity parade, showing Ms Fletcher’s playful side – ” I really enjoy having a bit of fun with my work.”
“I’ve started playing around with some in-camera techniques as well, so a movement of a camera through the landscape while the shutter is open.”
This effect has been used to turn blurred images into a mountain vista, and led to her winning gold at the New Zealand Iris Professional Photography Awards in the landscape section,
“I was pretty stoked about that.”
The movements in the camera created a soft “painterly effect”, she said.
Another strand to her work was “real kiwiana” – one print is a composite triptych image of kowhai with waxeyes feeding at the edge of Crown Lynn cups.
“We put beef fat in the cups and I just photographed them – I put the camera on a tripod with a remote control.”
Before starting down the course of having her own workshop and gallery, Ms Fletcher was a professional photographer for 15 years.
“I was your normal family photographer. I would do quite a bit of commercial work too, so I sort of learned my craft a bit before I started doing this.”
All her prints are created at her workshop using a 12-colour pigment-ink wide-format printer.
“I have done darkroom printing work before, and I loved it because it’s like witchcraft, but if you are going to be in business, you need to produce things consistently, and of a high quality.”
Framing was also done at the Ranfurly workshop and gallery, with Ms Fletcher’s partner helping out.
“My partner has been a power of strength through this whole thing and has given me quite a few ideas for my photographs as well.”
Two years into having her own studio, Ms Fletcher is delighted at living and working in Ranfurly.
“I never would have dreamed I would be doing this, but I think the stars have come into alignment.”
