2026 judges

We welcome our Creative Focus judges for 2026. Kate Anderson, Bruce Girdwood and Judy Stokes. Individually, they bring a great breadth of experience and knowledge to create an outstanding judging panel with a focus on creative photographic art.

Kate Anderson

Kate Anderson Based in Auckland and currently actively avoiding work. Film camera work and darkroom developing was my introduction to Photography while working at a Portrait and Wedding Studio in South London. I bought my first digital camera mid 2005 with no knowledge of Photoshop or Lightroom, starting out with elements 5. To learn Photoshop, I enrolled in the Southern Institute of Technology’s online course; A Diploma in Digital Photography, which I successfully completed in mid 2013. My APSNZ was gained in 2018 I started travelling again overseas in mid 2016 and have discovered a love of cold wintery lands. My happy place is out in the snow with my camera. Still learning and exploring this amazing pastime and capturing the beauty of the world we live in.

Bruce Girdwood

Bruce Girdwood Profile Image

Bruce Girdwood FPSNZ is a Fellow of the Photographic Society of New Zealand and a PSNZ-accredited judge. He served on the PSNZ Honours Board for nine years, chairing it until 2025, and was also a member of the PSNZ Judge Accreditation Panel for seven years, six of them as Chair. He has played a leading role in the development and delivery of PSNZ’s judge training programme.

Bruce has convened selectors for PSNZ national and regional exhibitions, and has selected for other national and international exhibitions, including the PSNZ International and North Shore Salons.

Raised in southern Africa, Bruce took up photography in 1983 to record the beauty of the world around him. He later lived in the United Kingdom, where his photography was stimulated by new surroundings and outstanding photographers, before settling in New Zealand in 1996. He now lives near Greytown, in the Wairarapa.

Bruce leads photographic tours, runs creative workshops and presents photographic talks throughout New Zealand. For him, photography is a deeply personal form of self-expression — a way of exploring, interpreting and sharing his journey of discovery.

Judy Stokes

Judy Stokes Profile Image

Judy, an award winning, creative photographer, is inspired mostly by nature and wild places. Using many different camera skills to create her images, capturing the essence of the moment is always key to her practice. Sometimes her images are realistic, sometimes abstract and often they look more like paintings than photographs.

While living in Muriwai Judy honed her craft as a photographer being especially drawn to the technique of Intentional Camera Movement. Muriwai’s landscapes also call to be captured in other ways and Judy often expresses her love of wildness of the west coast and the ocean in a more traditional style but still equally as evocative.

Judy is enthusiastic about sharing her techniques and gives creative photography workshops around New Zealand, Australia, online and more recently in Northland from her wild seaside clifftop. She also exhibits regularly throughout New Zealand and has images enjoying homes all over the world. Judy is an accredited PSNZ judge and has judged nationally and internationally.

To see more of Judy’s work visit her website judystokesphotography.com

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