Stephen Milner is a New Zealand black and white fine art landscape photographer based in Rotorua. His limited edition prints of Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Ruapehu and the wider New Zealand landscape are collected across New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Europe and North America. His work has placed in the Fine Art Photography Awards, the Epson International Pano Awards, the Minimalist Photography Awards and New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year, and has been featured by National Geographic.
From Snowdon to the Southern Alps
I grew up in the United Kingdom, and the first big mountain I climbed was Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales. It is by no means one of the biggest mountains in the world, but it was the closest thing I had. I found myself venturing into the wilderness to escape busy city life, searching for connection and challenge. There has been something spiritual about mountains for me for a very long time. Every time I am there, I feel like it is the place I am supposed to be.
My first real camera that made me feel something was an old Mamiya 7, a medium format film camera I bought to learn photography the old fashioned way. The moment came when I saw Fujifilm Velvia 50 on a light table for the first time. I had never felt so connected to photography. For years I worked with slide film and black and white film deliberately: the limitations forced me to hone my craft and gave me a deep appreciation for every frame chosen.
I have been photographing mountains and landscapes since 2013, the year I moved to New Zealand. That is where my craft flourished.
First recognition
For a long time photography was personal and recreational. That changed when I entered an image of Stirling Falls in D-Photo magazine's national competition and placed third. That was the moment I knew I had a creative vision that people appreciated. It took me a long time to realise that creating artwork is not about ourselves: as an artist, I am a creative specialist who connects people with place.
Finding the fog
For years I lived in Hamilton, in the Waikato: flat, mountainless country of rolling hills, rivers and fog. It took me a long time to realise that those three things, combined with black and white photography, create provocative and emotional images. I remember the day I found a paddock of deformed trees in a local farmer's field on a foggy morning, wading through tall wet grass with my Mamiya, composing the trees in different ways to tell stories. That work became Hiding in the Fog, a collection that succeeded in a gallery exhibition, was named in the Top 10 of Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers, and was recognised by the Fine Art Photography Awards. All five pieces are in the catalogue today.
The craft of discovery
My craft is centred on the exploration and discovery of places that people cherish. In the winter of 2023 I spent four weeks on a South Island expedition. In the Canterbury high country, after hours over the map, I found what looked like a small structure on the edge of one of the Ashburton Lakes and knew I had to see it. The area is notoriously windy, and on the hour's walk in, the lake was rippled. As I reached the old hut the wind calmed, the water turned to a mirror, the mountains dropped into the reflection, and a flock of black swans sailed into the frame. That capture became Tranquility's Hut.
I do not create meaningless recordings of landscape for clicks, shares and likes. Fine art is the craft of discovering the places people care about, capturing them, and editing with a style that quietly brings out their deeper meaning.
The awards era
2017: Bronze, Epson International Pano Awards
2022: three Bronze awards, Epson International Pano Awards
2022: Second Place, New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year (Built Environment)
2022: Top 10, Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers (Capture Magazine)
2022: Nominee, Fine Art Photography Awards (the Hiding in the Fog and Volcanic Aotearoa series)
2023: Honourable Mentions, Minimalist Photography Awards (Landscape, Long Exposure and Aerial)
2024: Third Prize, Fine Art Photography Awards, Landscape (Professional)
2024: Silver, Top 100 and two Bronze awards, Epson International Pano Awards
2024: Nominee, Fine Art Photography Awards, Architecture (the Whispers of Solitude series)
2026: fully black and white
In 2026 the catalogue went fully black and white. It was an honest arrival rather than a reinvention: my highest competition result, Third Prize in the Fine Art Photography Awards 2024, came from Silent Echoes, a black and white dune series from the Pouto Peninsula, and both of my Fine Art Photography Awards nominated series, Hiding in the Fog and Whispers of Solitude, were black and white work. The colour era earned its recognition, and those scenes have since been reinterpreted in monochrome.
There is something captivating about black and white photography. It removes the emotional connection to colour and simplifies a scene to mood, texture and tone, contrasts that reach people in a different way. Black and white matters deeply to me because of how spiritual the mountains are: their grandeur, the respect they demand, the adventure they bring, and the lessons they teach as you summit one mountain and it reveals the range.
What comes next
I do not believe I have fully found my place in the fine art photography world yet, but I think it lies somewhere in the mountains. Over the coming years I am building the mountaineering skill and confidence to roam New Zealand's peaks, ridgelines and plateaus safely and respectfully. In 2024 I explored the United States for the first time, from Lake Tahoe through Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Zion, and I was overwhelmed by the scale of it. There is more to come from both.
Publications
Stephen's photography has been published in National Geographic (a featured image of Nugget Point Lighthouse), New Zealand Geographic, Capture Magazine, D-Photo and NZ Photographer. He is the author of Volcanic Aotearoa New Zealand, a fine art photography book documenting New Zealand's volcanic landscape.
Exhibitions
Timeless New Zealand: Return to Eden Gallery, Blenheim (ongoing)
Timeless New Zealand Charitable Exhibition: Sustainable Coastlines (2024)
Timeless New Zealand: Welcome Swallow Gallery, Hamilton (2023)
Winter Collection: Welcome Swallow Gallery, Hamilton (2023)
About the prints
Every piece is printed to order in two finishes: metallic canvas in a floating frame, or frameless acrylic glass with a high gloss finish. Both arrive ready to hang, with free tracked worldwide shipping on all artwork. Limited edition pieces close when the edition sells through, and a certificate of authenticity is available with every limited edition print.
The mission
New Zealand is one of the few remaining untouched natural places in the world, and people come here from everywhere for its vast, diverse landscape. I feel like a steward of it, with a deep responsibility to remind people of what is here. My work exists to connect people with place: to transport you to the scenes you remember and the ones you are still to visit.
Shop the collection · See the award winners
Contact
Stephen Milner is based in Rotorua, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand.
Email: stephen@stephen-milner.com
Phone: +64 (0)21 0211 4876