The PSNZ Council is a group of volunteers elected by the membership. The official tenure for the President and Vice President is two years, although the President may do an additional year, but no more than three. The Immediate Past President has a tenure of one year. All Councillors can stand for re-election each year. The President and Vice President allocate portfolios of responsibility for each Councillor which is based on the Councillor having a particular skill set or expertise to enable the smooth running of the organisation.
Council appoints the positions of Treasurer and Secretary.
The current PSNZ Council members are:
President
Paul Whitham LPSNZ
Upper Hutt
e: president@photography.org.nz
The President is responsible for the Governance and is seen as the ‘face’ of the Society or the ‘go to person’. In reality the President is the person who ensures the Society is moving forward, setting and meeting its objectives as defined in the Strategic Plan. He is also responsible for maintaining harmony among members and affiliated clubs. As President, Paul has overall responsibility of guiding the Councillors through the myriad of tasks and activities in each portfolio to ensure the Society delivers the services and benefits to members in each calendar year.
Paul joined PSNZ in 2013 and was elected to council in 2015 initially holding the Partnership portfolio. He was previously the Councillor for Publications as well as the editor and designer of CameraTalk. In this latter role he has overseen the transition from an eight-page print newsletter to be 60+ page digital edition now produced.
Paul is a qualified accountant, although at present not working full time in that field. He has also run his own web-design firm developing applications used around the world.
Paul is a also an active member of the Hutt Camera Club.
Vice President
Toya Heatley APSNZ
Upper Hutt
e: toya.heatley@gmail.com
As well as assisting the President with management of strategy and policy issues, Toya is the Councillor for Events which includes Regional and National Conventions.
Toya is self-employed as an IT Manager for a nationwide company, remote IT support specialist and website designer. She was previously on the PSNZ Council from 2015 to 2019 and has been the PSNZ website administrator since 2015. Toya is a PSNZ accredited judge in both Open and Nature categories and was a member of the editorial team for the 2020 & 2021 New Zealand Camera publications.
Along with her experience in Information and Technology, Event Organisation, Website Design and Administration skills Toya also has a great passion for photography. She is a member of the Hutt Camera Club
Immediate Past President
Moira Blincoe LPSNZ
Auckland
e: ipp@photography.org.nz
Having completed a three-year tenure as President of the Photographic Society of New Zealand (Inc.) Moira assumes the role of Immediate Past President for a period of 12 months.
In this capacity Moira is there to provide guidance and assistance to the President and Council.
To assist the new Councillors joining Council, Moira will oversee the role of Partnership relationships through to April 2022.
Moira joined Council in 2011 and in this time has drawn on her professional communication and marketing skills, business acumen and experience, together with her knowledge of the Society to lead and guide the Society.
With a quieter workload and responsibility Moira is also looking forward to having immeasurably more time to indulge in her own personal photographic pursuits!
Treasurer
Maartje Morton
Whanganui
e: mjcmorton@gmail.com
Maartje has recently joined Council as Treasurer. In this capacity Maartje is responsible for all number related activities for the Society. This role constitutes part of the Executive Officer team and in this capacity Maartje will contribute to the development of strategy and governance for the Society.
Maartje’s combined professional qualifications and teaching experience will allow her to fill the role of Treasurer admirably. She will work closely with the newly appointed Bookkeeper who handles the day to day transactional requirements.
Maartje will budgeting and financial advice for all PSNZ hosted events including the conventions and the Workshop Series. She will be responsible for producing the Society’s Annual Financial Report as well as lodging all financial reports with the Charity Services.
Now retired, Maartje’s teaching career spanned over 30 years with 16 of those as a Deputy Principal at a local secondary girl’s college. Her main teaching subjects were Accounting, Economics and ESOL. She is well versed in people management, administration, and preparation of accounts and financial reports.
Secretary
Chryseis Phillips
Taranaki
e: secretary@photography.org.nz
The Secretary’s role is appointed by Council. Chryseis is our ‘right hand’ woman of the Council. She ably assists the President, Vice President and all Councillors with the administrative and reporting activities. Chryseis manages the preparation and documentation for each Annual General Meeting and ensures that all members are communicated with according to our legal requirements. She is often the eyes and ears for Society activities and ensures nothing falls through the cracks when Council activities are running hot.
Dunedin
e: craig.mckenzie@xtra.co.nz
Craig is the Councillor for national competitions. With a wealth of experience in photographic competitions, Craig provides guidance and assistance to the clubs hosting the Society’s national competitions. These include the PSNZ SONY national exhibition, the regional salons, Interclub competitions, Canon Online and the Jack Sprosen Memorial Trophy for audio visuals.
He is also the liaison councillor for non-PSNZ salons such as the North Shore Salon of Photography, Trenna Packer, Nelson Triptych, Laurie Thomas, Creative Focus, New Brighton Photojournalism and the Tauranga Audio Visual competition.
Craig’s personal photography reflects where he is happiest which is out enjoying New Zealand’s great outdoors, making photographs to showcase its beauty. He is one of New Zealand’s renowned nature and landscape photographers, showcasing many of our wildlife species in a unique style. Craig’s introduction to organised photography and the darkroom was through joining PhotoSoc, the student photography club for the Canterbury University. When he returned to his hometown of Dunedin, he joined the Dunedin Photographic Society (DPS) and later, PSNZ.
As a member of DPS, he has held almost every administrative role and has been heavily involved in running the very successful Dunedin Festival of Photography. Craig was awarded Honorary Life Membership to the Dunedin Photographic Society in 2015, the same year the Society celebrated its 125th anniversary.
Craig was a member of the three-person organising committee of the Society's very successful 66th PSNZ National Convention held in Dunedin in 2018.
Jane Muller
Havelock North
e: jem.psnz@gmail.com
For the past 12 months Jane has handled the Communications portfolio on Council. With the addition of new portfolios with additional members joining Council, Jane assumes the portfolio of Councillor for Club Liaison. In this capacity, she will be the ‘go to’ person from Council who will work specifically with affiliated clubs. Ideally Jane will encourage the clubs to appoint one of their own members to be the PSNZ liaison person who she works with. Working with clubs is vital for the ongoing growth and success of the Society and our affiliated clubs and through Jane, it is her intention to ensure that all member benefits and opportunities are known to the clubs.
Jane has over 30 years’ experience in the mental health field both in clinical and management roles. She is a trained ESOL teacher and taught English classes for over 10 years.
Her communication skills, team player and reliability are an asset to Council.
Jane is an active member of the Hawkes Bay Camera Club and contributed many years volunteering on the committee and also as Secretary.
Sue Wilkins LPSNZ
Clutha
e: sue@boydwilkins.nz
A recently new member to PSNZ and to Council, Sue steps into the role of Councillor for Communications which includes planning and implementing communications strategies to promote the PSNZ vision and mission statement of ‘helping photographers grow’ to our members and all photographic enthusiasts.
In this capacity Jane will work closely with several portfolios especially membership, events, national competitions and partnerships. She will also assist with social media and editorial support.
Sue works full time as the Communications Coordinator for the Clutha District Council and as the ‘sole charge’ of the office that translates as “doing everything”, which makes her the perfect candidate to take on the PSNZ communications role.
Aston Moss LPSNZ
Auckland
e: aston.t.moss@gmail.com
Aston is also new to Council and will assume the role of Councillor for Partnerships. This will see him continue in developing and managing the existing relationships with the Society’s valued trade partners, as well as developing opportunities for growth in this area.
Aston’s professional career as a human resources professional and being based in Auckland makes him the perfect Councillor to continue the Society’s excellent relationship with our trade partners.
He has a strong understanding of Governance and is currently on the Council of the Auckland Justice of the Peace Association (AJPA). He also serves as a Ministerial Trainer for the AJPA party due to his knowledge of adult education.
Simon Forsyth
Wellington
e: simonforsyth@outlook.com
Simon assumes the role of Councillor for Membership. In this capacity Simon looks after all facets of membership retention as well as developing initiatives to grow the membership. He will be the first port of call for all members and will be looking at ways of developing new online benefits.
Simon will work closely with the Database Coordinators and be responsible for the distribution of PSNZ bulk emails.
He is a past President and Life member of the Kapiti Coast Camera Club, a PSNZ accredited judge and a current mentor to a few members.
Richard Laing
Christchurch
e: rlaing@mac.com
Also new to Council, Richard assumes the role of Councillor for Publications. This portfolio will see him taking a strategic overview of our two flagship publications – NZ CameraTalk and NZ Camera. He will work closely with the off Council teams that work hard to produce outstanding publications.
Richard has over 30 years’ experience in software engineering both in technical and management roles. In 2007 Richard joined the Kaiapoi Photographic Club and is a current committee member, having previously been club President and competition secretary (not together).
Karen Moffat McLeod LPSNZ
Whitianga
e: karen@karenmcleodphotography.com
Karen has joined Council to take up the newly created role of Councillor for Workshops. In this capacity, Karen will work closely with the existing Workshop Series committee to develop and implement a new series of workshops from 2022 and beyond. Karen has extensive experience in governance through various Board positions as well as in event organisation and administration.
Karen’s passion for photography began in her college days when her Art teacher was an avid photographer. Transforming from photography being a hobby to taking it more seriously, in 2017 Karen set up her own company and specialises in Creative Portraiture, but maintains an interest in landscape and nature.
Our Patron
Our Patron is Wellington based member, John Boyd, Hon FPSNZ Hon PSNZ APSNZ. John has been a member of PSNZ for 54 years which stands him in good stead to fulfil this distinguished role.
There have been many milestones during his membership tenure, some of which include:
- Joined PSNZ 1962
- PSNZ Councillor from 1971 - 1975
- Awarded APSNZ 1973
- Member, Honours Board 1989 – 1992
- Awarded Hon.Life Member of Wellington Photographic Society, 1995
- Secretary, PSNZ Honours Board 1995 – 2001
- Awarded (jointly with Val) PSNZ Service Medal, 2001
- Elected PSNZ Council 2001
- PSNZ Vice President 2002-2003
- PSNZ President 2004-2005
- Awarded Hon PSNZ 2008
- Joint co-ordinator, Honours Board, 2012 – 2019
- Received Hon FPSNZ 2012
- Member, Judge Accreditation Panel 2014-2020
- Appointed Patron 2015.