Harry Janssen has developed his skills over many years in a wide range of areas from studio portraits and wedding photography to commercial photography, photofinishing and printing, and professional digital retouching for photographers, New Zealand wide and overseas.

 

He has received a number of awards for his work, including success in the NZIPP Iris Awards, and exhibited in a number of galleries.

 

“Photography is about seeing. It has very little to do with a camera. If you have the gift of seeing and observing you are a born photographer; operating a camera is just a mechanical thing.  Nothing you can learn from a book is much help if you don’t see.”

 

Harry’s early training covered every aspect of the photographic process; “One day we would be doing weddings, the next it would be a fashion shoot or an industrial plant. We did all our own developing and printing and because we had a shop as well, I was able to learn a lot simply because I was expected to be able to answer customers’ questions.”

 

Harry believes every picture is photographed twice. “First by the camera, then by photofinishing and retouching.”  It is nothing new he says, “You wouldn’t believe the amount of tinkering we used to do in the darkroom.  Slowly the image comes to life.”

 

The difference today is the use of advanced technology, which speeds the process. “I’ve worked as a retouch artist for some of New Zealand’s most successful photographers and pride myself on having become an expert.”