5 Questions with Billy Nunweek

I'm Billy, a part-time photographer in my late twenties based out of Auckland, New Zealand. During the week I'm based out of Mt. Roskill, working as a Health and Safety Officer for a company that provides manpower for cranes across the North Island and East Coast of Australia. As a teenager I grew up in the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia which gave me a greater appreciation for my homeland, Aotearoa. Though I'd call myself a Landscape Photographer, my scope of work is far beyond that of just landscapes, in my portfolio you'll find an extensive range of images from automotive to fashion.

@visualsofbilly
@caiathecruiser

Q1. What made you first pick up a camera?

I've had a few moments in life that had me picking up a camera but it inevitably found its way back onto a shelf to collect dust. In 2006 I was given a Fujifilm digital point and shoot by my aunt before my parents and I relocated to Dubai, I found myself fascinated with the architecture there more than anything and although I was often confronted with some incredible scenes in the three years that I lived there I often found it was my last instinct to pick up the camera, There was an aha-moment in 2009 while away on holiday in Nepal as we flew on a Buddha Air scenic flight over the Himalayas where that little Fujifim got a run for its money but again, that desire to use the camera faded to little more than something I'd use to capture memories with friends. This was a trend that continued for a decade when finally in 2016 I found myself up Castle Hill on a brisk winters morning watching the sun come up, the way the sky changed from dark shades of purple to vibrant shades of pink, the way light hit the mountain peaks almost causing them to come to life; it lit a fire in me that has since burnt only brighter and brighter. I wanted to share the beautiful places I found myself with my friends, family and the world beyond and found that photography and social media was the best platform to make that a reality.

Q2. What does success look like to you?

Success for me has many definitions, I guess it depends on what glasses I'm looking through. In my day job, success is watching those I look after work safely, work smarter and upskill while they make a living, a successful day is a day where everyone has come to work and returned home safe. With my personal photography projects, success is accurately representing a scene and capturing a feeling, if I can look at an image and feel it take me back to the moment where I feel as though I've gone back to that day, that's success. Whether I'm photographing a wedding or a product, seeing my clients light up as I show them the images for the first time, that's success. In life however, it's easier to define, if I am happy, that's success.

Q3. What is your desert island lens?

The easiest question so far, my Sigma 24mm f/ 1.4 ART. This lens opened up a work of imagery that quite literally shaped me as a photographer. It is wide enough to capture landscapes, narrow enough for portraits, fast enough for low light and sharper than a butcher's knife. I often don't take all my gear with me but this lens never leaves my bag.

I'd highly recommend that everyone owns nothing but a single prime lens at some point in their photography journey.

Q4. Which shoot for you stands out as most memorable?

Easily my doors-off helicopter over Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park back on the 6th of February, 2021. This was my first adult helicopter experience and I didn't do things by halves, the flight featured 48 minutes of bone-chilling airtime that saw us reach a pressure altitude of 15,000ft which is 1,000ft below the 'ceiling' or limit of the helicopter's capabilities. Reaching this altitude required the use of a nasal cannula which provided supplemental oxygen, extensive planning to ensure that I was making the very most of every second in the sky and a meticulous eye for detail when it comes to safety because in that environment, even the smallest error can be potentially fatal. The flight revolved around one image which came about while I was pouring through Google Earth looking for different aerial perspectives of my favourite national park when I noticed the summit of Aoraki (Mt. Cook) could like up perfectly with the heart of Lake Pukaki. The rest they say is history, pardon the cliche. Nothing has ever come close to comparing to that first flight, though spectacular the second felt a lot calmer and a night under the Northern Lights didn't quite get the heart palpitating in the same fashion.

Q5. Which photographer influenced you and your style most?

Though I personally feel my images are very me now I have gone through massive stylistic shifts as I've grown to where I find myself today. I find that William Patino, Jason Charles Hill and Benjamin Hardmen have strongly influenced my Landscape and Adventure photography whereas I feel I look closer to home at the likes of my dear friends Yann Bervas, Bri Woolnough and Josh Hilliam when it comes to my portrait, lifestyle and automotive work.

You can find more of Billy’s work here - @visualsofbilly