Underwater Photographer & Photojournalist, Depth www.depth.co.nz

Richard Robinson is an award-winning photojournalist. For the past 16 years he has worked as a press photographer for a number of our national papers, capturing memorable images of some of this country’s biggest news and sports events. Away from the pressures of daily deadlines he has combined his love for photography with his passion for our oceans and is fast becoming known for his unique and haunting images of life below the waterline.

Richard is a regular contributor to the New Zealand Geographic magazine for the last five years, working on assignments that have taken him as far south as the subantarctic islands, to documenting New Zealand’s most northern territory, the Kermadecs, in partnership with the Auckland Museum in their 2011 Bisodiscovery expedition.

What do you hope to achieve on this expedition to the Three Kings?

My goal is to document the expedition and produce a photo-essay that will illustrate the incredible diversity of underwater life at the Three Kings and the excitement of breaking new ground in marine science.

What skills are you bringing to the team?

Coming from a news photography background I am a quick operator and able to adapt to fast changing situations both above and below the water. New Zealand Geographic magazine requires very different imagery from what people are used to seeing in news media — it’s more creative, more artful and attempts to capture the essence of the subject rather than just the subject itself. This will be my focus at the Three Kings and I hope to return with a hard drive full of frames that will not only delight readers, but hopefully also change their perspective of the diversity, fragility and value of the underwater world.

When you’re not on an expedition what does a “day at work” look like for you?

When I am not on an assignment like this or sitting in front of the computer trying to catch up on image editing, I can be found chasing big news events for the New Zealand Herald from rugby tests to court cases. (My byline graces our fish and chip wrappers the nation over). But mainly I am hatching a plan for my next dive location.