Retrato NZ 2.98

About the travel photographer

Rodolfo Peña has lived in Wellington for the last nine years. His experience as a social worker and photographer of the indigenous people of the Philippines led to his love for seeking the simplicity of the human face and form through a camera lens. Indigenous people, he says, have a purity and lack of artifice about them that is uncommon in today's world of the selfie.

His style of photography is as uncomplicated as his subjects. Except for very minimal adjustments, Rodolfo doesn't enhance his photographs in any way. Preferring to make use of available light (no flash) and the basic rules of composition sans any photo-ehancing software, his resulting portraits capture his subjects in unguarded moments, their personalities pixelated for eternity.

Rodolfo's love of photography was influenced by photo essays in books and magazines he read as a child. He daydreamed of far-off lands and exotic cultures, hoping to document them through a camera someday. "I want to capture people and places as my eyes see them, without 'rose-tinted glasses'. Doing this means I have to think fast sometimes - evaluate light, or stoop, crouch, or bend in the most uncomfortable way to get the right composition. I like doing all the work before I click the shutter, not after."

In 2017, I'll be working with Travel Hub to package tours. I know most photographers love to travel and have the skills to capture the essence of a place through the camera lens. So if you’re keen to travel, take your camera some place next year and shoot postcard-worthy photos.