Governor General Award 1986

A long time friend and fellow of the Academy he received the Governor General Award in 1986 and died in 1988.

One of the world’s most sought after and acclaimed photographers he was a man of ideas. As a member of the Magnum Group, or when commissioned by President Nasser of Egypt to make a film, by the Sultan of Brunei to make audio-visual tapes about the Sultan and his country, or the Pertimia Oil Company to make six films about Indonesian life and arts, or by many magazines, among them National Geographic, Life, Paris Match and Queen, he always brought new ideas and a fresh approach to what he did for them. This is revealed in his famous photographic essays Monsoon in India and Roman Empire, Japan, Egypt and China.

His achievements are too numerous to mention, but his artistic conception as shown in the many books he illustrated bear witness to his seeing eye. An abiding love of his country is attested to in his first book New Zealand: Gift of the Sea (1963) and his last, Reader’s Digest: Guide to New Zealand (1988). Brian was dedicated to his craft, worked extremely hard, was strongly self-disciplined and above all approached everything with the utmost professionalism. Although he had achieved so much he had plans for so much more…

- Doreen Blumhardt, Vice President 1988

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