Jane Ussher

Jane Ussher trained in photography at Wellington Polytechnic from 1975-76, the first student to be offered a second-year scholarship.

Joining the New Zealand Listener as chief photographer in 1977, Jane went on to photograph almost every major figure and documented the changing political and cultural landscape of New Zealand over the following thirty years. Jane became known not only for her extraordinary skill as a photographer but also for the intelligence, spontaneity and perception that she brought to each photoshoot.

Leaving the New Zealand Listener in 2008, Jane spent the summer of 2009 in Antarctica at the request of Helen Clark, photographing the historic huts used by Sir Edmund Hilary and others.

Jane won a Qantas award for photography in 2004 and in the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours list became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her contribution to photography. Her work continues to define and contribute to the emergence of a New Zealand cultural identity.