The Distance Between You and Me, a photographic series by Inge Flinte, aims to explore the lonely spaces in our lives: capturing what remains in the moments without others; and exhibiting the intimate, private spaces that exist after life has occurred.

The project, which has been in the pipeline for a number of years, began when Flinte’s mother recounted the flashbacks experienced by a dying friend.

“I worked on the series for about a year before putting it aside,” Flinte explains. “Mainly this was because the emotional weight of the work felt too difficult to deal with at the time. I revisited it when my brother was diagnosed with lymphoma and the distance that I had felt compelled to create became a metaphor for the distance I felt between myself and my brother; the distance between life and death.”

Flinte has explored distance in her photography before. An earlier body of work, titled Uchi, the Japanese word for home, connects with both her mother’s heritage, and, again, the residue of life that is left in a space once its human inhabitants disappear. A portrait of goodness and imperfections, Uchi captures the feelings, colours, seasons, light, and food of home.

Drawn to beauty and curiosities that are often overlooked or ignored, Flinte’s work records the subtleties of everyday life. “I like to use photography as a form of note-taking; that is recording images to hold onto things that I feel are slipping away. They become little reminders of my everyday and reflections of what I see.”

Exploring the idea of an unspoken narrative, Flinte is particularly interested in producing an emotional response through a series of images, even if the viewer is unsure why this response is happening. “I had a real epiphany moment looking through one of Rinko Kawauchi’s books, which, although none of the images was in any way grotesque or emotive, left me with a really uneasy feeling. Since the title was written in kanji and my Japanese is incredibly limited, I had not read it, and it wasn’t until my friend translated the title as 'death' that it all clicked for me. I suppose thats the kind of response I want to evoke within my own work.”

You can view Inge Flinte’s work on her website, ingeflintart.com.

Two years ago, Graeme Campbell downloaded Instagram and was inspired to launch into his own photography. After just nine months, he has demonstrated a natural flair behind the camera and gathered over four-thousand Instagram followers. All this, and he’s just 14.

Campbell doesn’t miss an opportunity to get out and take photographs and picks up most of his skills by getting outside and giving it a go. “I have learnt photography through trial and error and a lot of YouTube videos”.

Proof that putting yourself out there and having a go is sometimes the best way to learn, Campbell isn’t deterred by not yet being able to take photography at school. “My school doesn’t offer photography as a course in years 9, 10 or 11, but I will definitely take it in years 12 and 13.”

When tuition is needed, the benefits of a collective pool of online knowledge shared by many other, predominantly young, photographers becomes clear. Not only are so many young artists taking fantastic photographs, they’re also not afraid to share what they learn with others.

19-year-old, LA-based photographer, Michael Steric, who boasts over 178 thousand Instagram followers and shares his work and methods across Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, is another key source of inspiration and knowledge for Campbell.

Not only following young photographers overseas, Campbell, who is particularly interested in astro-photography, is inspired by the work of Queenstown photographer, Jordan McInally.

Not unlike many artists starting out, Campbell sites his main challenge as a photographer as getting his work seen. But, spurred on by recent successes including being featured on Canon New Zealand’s official Instagram account, and selling his first canvas print, his plan is simple: keep trying and keep putting out good work and the followers will come.

You can join Campbell’s growing number of Instagram followers at instagram.com/graeme.c.photography.

From the Scottish Highlands to the gently rolling hills of Botswana and the Kalahari Desert, Emma Willetts has visited a diverse array of wildernesses. Her time travelling spanned 10 years, and accorded visits to over 60 countries whilst on the crew of a private super-yacht.

Willetts finds the ocean to be both inspiring and incredibly diverse, and spending many years travelling mainly by sea presented endless opportunities to capture its beauty.

Long journeys between destinations could sometimes last up to two or three weeks. “We had a lot of down time on those long passages, so a lot of time to spend out on deck meditating, observing, just watching”. It was in this watching that Willetts learned the best moments to photograph her vast subject. “You get to know the times of day where the sky is a certain colour, and typically the ocean becomes a little more still at the end of the day or very early morning".

There would, though, be stopovers on these long trips, and the crew would have time to explore for a day or two in each country. “We had a great captain who wanted us to see/experience as much as we could. As did the owner of the yacht.”

When on land, Willetts’ photography focuses on capturing the unique nature of the location, and the personality of its inhabitants. Already fond of photographing horses and cows, Botswana presented the opportunity to extend this animal-trend to zebras; a subject she found fascinating. “They’re not hard to capture, but I always try and photograph subjects slightly differently to the norm.”

A generous amount of negative space applied to awe-inspiring, exotic locations imbues a luxurious feel to her work, which Willetts has now begun selling online.

Willetts talks about the importance of developing her own style. “There are so many incredible photographers out there, and it's hard not to be too influenced by them.” For her, social media presents both inspiration and challenges. “It's really, really important to stay true to yourself. Keep producing work you love, and try not to get too caught up in what other people think.”

Being overseas presented Willetts with opportunities to take part in workshops and retreats with other photographers, including Dan O'Day and Samm Blake’s ‘Art and the Heart’ workshop in New York.

Like many contemporary, self-taught photographers, the internet is also a valuable source of learning. “I love Sue Bryce’s work and, although I’ve never met her, I’ve done a lot of her workshops online”. Willetts recommends Creative Live: “It’s an amazing platform for creatives.”

Willetts’ work is available from her recently launched website, emmawillettsprints.com. The site brings together a carefully curated collection of images from both New Zealand and her travels. “Each piece has been chosen to invoke feelings of vibrancy, tranquility, warmth, peace, and of course, wanderlust.”