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About Me

I was a Radiation Therapist by profession and have worked in this field for over 38 years in a number of countries - NZ, USA, UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. I finally retired at the end of 2004.

I am a family person, married to Chris who is a school teacher and we have two daughters, both of whom are now married. We have two beautiful grandchildren - Arna and Shea.

We love the outdoors - mountaineering, tramping, walking, 4WDing - anything that will get us outdoors and out of the city. The camera bag and tripod are almost always with me. Because I am invariably carrying a pack as well as my camera gear, I have stuck with 35mm, despite being tempted to progress to medium format. I used to useNikon N80, Nikon F90 and Nikon FM2n bodies, but have recently gone digital and bought a Nikon D200 complete with 18 - 200mm VR lens. The N80 and FM2n have gone courtesy of Trade Me but I have retained the F90. Other lenses include Sigma 10-20mm and 17-35mm zoom lenses and Nikkor 24-120mm, 80-200mm(f2.8), 70-300mm zoom lenses and a 105mm macro lens. Tripod is a Manfrotto. A monopod has recently been purchased.

Exhibitions and Dreams

Over the past 10 years I have mounted 11 exhibitions, mostly in Saudi Arabia and sometimes with fellow photographers. There has been one exhibition here in New Zealand several years ago. The most recent exhibition was a very successful exhibition in Muscat, Oman, in late April - early May 2005.

Fortunately most have been successful and my photographs are adorning homes and work places all over the world. My dream is to have a gallery, not only for my own photographs, but also for emerging artists to display and sell their work without having to incur the heavy commissions demanded in most galleries.

Another dream is to set up a matting and framing workshop as a retirement pastime. This dream has almost evolved in that I have bought a business, completed a small business course, and have just commenced framing on a part time basis from home. As well, I am working 1-2 days per week under the excellent guidance of Alan Thompson at his frameshop, "Artworks" at 495 Papanui Road, Christchurch.

Travels past and future

I have travelled quite extensively over the years and my profession as a Radiation Therapist has allowed me to live and travel in many countries.

Working in Saudi Arabia throughout the 1990s allowed me the opportunity to

buy some good photographic equipment,
meet up with some adventurers and excellent photographers, and
travel both within Saudi by 4WD and countries further afield - Uganda, Eastern Europe, Arctic expeditions, to name a few.

In 1998 I was invited on a Canadian Arctic private expedition to Melville Island. In 2002 I was on a British Expedition to the Arctic for 7 months, followed by 5 months in Switzerland and USA. In 2004 I led a small group of five plus sherpas and porters on a five week trek around the Khumbu/Cho La/Gokyo areas of the Himalayas, plus a visit to the Chitwan National Park on the border between Nepal and India. In December 2004/January 2005 and again in March/April 2005, Chris and I were the land-based support crew for a British expedition kayaking the coastline of Oman. This expedition concluded in early January 2006.

I am now involved on an annual basis with Mark Evans who founded "Connecting Cultures". Check his website at www.connectingcultures.co.uk

Future adventures include a trek across the South Island of New Zealand planned for early 2007 (now completed successfully in March 2007), walking the John Muir trail in California and the Appalachian Trail in USA, and exploring the Silk Road region in Central Asia. A return to Nepal is planned within the next year or two.

I have just taken a group of six photographers on a tour of northern Oman for two weeks in late January/early February 2008. This tour was very successful and has encouraged me to repeat the tour in February 2009, again with 6 photographers. The tour is really an adventure with a difference, with much of the journey being either completely off-road or following four wheel drive tracks, exploring many places the average visitor will never see. There is already keen interest for the 2009 Oman tour and photographers are already expressing interest in 2010! Once the northern Oman tour is firmly established, another photographic adventure is planned for southern Oman, followed by a photographic trekking tour in Nepal, and a photographic tour in Jordan.If you are interested, please contact me.

My email address is jckiwis@ihug.co.nz