“It’s trying to shift the perspective slightly.”
She’s taken several images for the book - one a close-up shot of the velodrome track against the sky.
“I’ve never thought much of the velodrome, but this photo I took made it seem kind of dreamy. I like the shapes it makes in the photo.”
She hoped the book would reintroduce people to places they were familiar with by casting them in a different light.
“It can make people do a double-take because they won’t recognise the place at first, and then they’ll realise.”
She aims to set up a photography business in Whanganui after finishing her studies.
“I want to photograph artists’ works for them to advertise their art on social media.
“Photographing artists’ work in different mediums can be quite hard - it’s difficult to get the colours the same or close to what they are in a painting, or to get them without any glare.”
Photography is a competitive field and it’s useful to have a point of difference, she said.
“I think there’s heaps of photographers in Whanganui. It’s really inspiring to be around people who are creating as well.
“Photos are a luxury a lot of the time, not a necessity, and so it’s not a job you’ll get working for someone else - you have to work for yourself.”
Shand said she felt her photography style was growing.
“I’m using a lot more colour than I was when I started and I’m just getting a lot more confident trying out new things, and technically I’m getting better.”
Her gold-winning Iris Award photograph depicted her boyfriend and best friend in a dollhouse.
It was a chance for Shand to experiment with Photoshop, scale and symbols.
“I borrowed a friend’s dollhouse and tried to place little things around like a padlock, a match and a liquorice allsort to make a little scene, and it expanded from there.
“It’s about playing happy families, and things not looking quite like what they look like from the outside.”
Shand said she didn’t mind if viewers made up their own meanings for her work.
“I think it takes away from images if you try too hard to have a story, as someone might not be able to relate to that particular story or it might not be relevant to their own life.”
Artificial intelligence in photography made it important to diversify with specific skills, such as creating design material for websites, she said.
“It’s about just trying to offer something different. It’s just so unknown at the moment.”
Shand plans to have an end-of-year exhibition at Whanganui’s Orphic Gallery to show her completed catalogue of work.
Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.
