A Midsummer Night's Dream inspired portrait wins photography competition

Shadows were a key element in the winning photograph.

Though she be but little, she be fierce" were the words that inspired the winning photograph of a competition.

Taranaki artist Katrina Ward was the supreme winner of the Stratford Shakespeare Trust Award for the noir black and white photography competition.

The award is sponsored by Fenton Street Arts Collective in conjunction with the Percy Thomson gallery.

Katrina says she is rapt to win the competition.

"I'm very pleased to have won."

She says she drew inspiration from Helena to capture the image.

"Midsummer Night's Dream is one of my favourites. When I was at school I was Helena for production so I felt a connection to her. I love Shakespeare's works. When I was at university we'd act out Shakespeare's plays outside over summer."

Katrina took the winning shot of her daughter using a vintage camera app on her phone.

"I wanted strong light and a detailed background. My daughter is standing in front of a painting I created which adds to the background. I took the image in the late afternoon soon which made the good shadows. While the portrait is of my daughter the focus is more on her shadow."

Katrina says she saw the competition on Facebook and decided to share it with her students.

"I work as an education consultant and I thought the competition was a great way for those students to get their work out there. I thought I'd give it a go as well."

Katrina won $300.

"It was a nice little surprise."

She says her daughter was excited to see the photograph on the wall.

"She was really chuffed that the image won and even more chuffed to see her face in an exhibition."