Tom Lomax is New Zealand IPP Iris Awards, Student Photographer of the year 2019.
He attended the Ara Institute of Canterbury as a photography student and won the Ara Ward for excellence in photography. A video of Tim and his work at Ara can be viewed here.
He has recently returned from a 2 month visit to Japan! His gear was loaned by Fujifilm.
This is what he had to say about his trip.
"For my final project I decided I would travel to Northern Japan to a small fishing town called Kesennuma. Kesenumma was one of many towns affected by the devastating tsunami in 2011. During my time I was able to meet with local fishermen, shop owners, community workers and monks to hear their stories and see how far they had come together as a community during their regeneration process. The photos include my early morning trip on a fishing boat, meeting with local dyer Sayaka and learning about her process with indigo dye and the Hayama shrine festival where the locals carried their deity around the town collecting offerings and praying for a successful fishing season. There might have been a bit of sake as well. .”