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Inspired by a Box Brownie: Announcing my "Photographer of the Year" Collection!

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Where does a lifelong passion begin? Sometimes it starts with a simple object — a single moment that sparks a lifetime of curiosity. For me, that object was a Kodak Box Brownie camera.

It was my dad's, technically — until I "borrowed" it for a school trip at nine years old and, through the sheer will of a determined child, made it my own. That camera opened up my world. Every roll of Kodak film, every trip to the photo lab, was an investment in a budding passion that would eventually carry me through digital photography, Photoshop, and now into the fascinating frontier of AI-generated art.

That feeling — the pure, simple joy of capturing a moment for the first time — is timeless. It's a universal spark, and I see it in kids today whether they're holding their first digital camera or composing a masterpiece on a smartphone.

That's the inspiration behind my brand-new design series, and I'm thrilled to announce it today.

Introducing the "Photographer of the Year" Collection

I wanted to create something that celebrates that initial spark of creativity in every child. The "Photographer of the Year" collection does just that — a fun, vibrant, and inclusive series of designs featuring a diverse group of nine-year-old boys and girls, each excitedly taking a photo.

Each character is designed in a colourful cartoon style, perfect for merchandise that kids and parents will love — turning every t-shirt, sweatshirt, and mug into a celebration of that child's creative spirit.

This collection is for every young artist who sees the world a little differently, for every parent who wants to encourage their child's passion, and for anyone who remembers the magic of their own "first camera" moment.

The Perfect Gift to Inspire a Young Creator

From my studio here in Irvine, California, I've had so much fun bringing this idea to life. These designs are more than just cute illustrations — they're a tribute to the beginning of a creative journey. They make a unique gift for birthdays, holidays, or just as a way to say, "I see the artist in you."

The full, diverse collection is now available in my Redbubble shop. Here's the whole series:

Explore the Full "Photographer of the Year" Collection

I truly hope these designs bring a smile to your face and inspire the young photographers in your life. What was the creative tool — a camera, a paintbrush, a musical instrument — that started your own journey? I'd love to hear your story in the comments below.

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Faces of Pasifika 2007 — A Day at Auckland's Pacific Festival

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The 15th anniversary Pasifika Festival poster — a collage of the Pacific cultures the festival celebrates. On Saturday 10 March 2007, I spent the day at the Pasifika Festival at Western Springs Park in Auckland. It was the festival's 15th year — an annual celebration of Pacific Island cultures that has been part of Auckland's calendar since 1993, and which typically draws crowds of well over 100,000 across the day. Nine Pacific villages are traditionally represented — Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Fiji, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati and Tahiti — with music, dance, food, arts, and craft from each community sharing the same park for the day. I usually visit New Zealand earlier in February, but in 2007 I was there in March and it was the first — and, to date, only — time I've been able to attend Pasifika. I hope to make it back one of these years. But I came away from that single visit with the str...
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Cool Granny Has Taken Up Flying — The Little Old Lady Collection Grows Again

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Cool Granny in Her Biplane — © John Corney 2026 Our cool granny is back, and she has done something the family has been quietly worried about for a few months now. She has taken up flying. A Brief Recap for New Readers If you're new to the series: she first appeared in a beautifully kept yellow Austin A35 on the corner of Queen Street and K Road in Auckland , waving cheerfully out the driver's window as she went past. That piece was, in its quiet way, a tribute to my own mother, who in her fifties bought her own motor scooter in Whanganui and never looked back — and to every older woman who has ever decided it was finally her turn. Then she showed up in a pink-and-yellow flame-painted monster truck, waving out the driver's window in exactly the same spirit, but with rather larger tyres. Same silver hair, same coral scarf, same oversized sunglasses. Same little red heart pa...
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Cool Granny in Her Austin A35 — © John Corney 2026 This one has a real backstory, and I'd like to tell it properly. An Auckland Sighting On one of my annual visits home to New Zealand, I was walking through central Auckland — at the corner of Queen Street and Karangahape Road (K Road, as everyone calls it) — when a small yellow car went past me and stopped me mid-stride. It was a beautifully kept Austin A35, one of the little British runabouts that were everywhere in New Zealand when I was growing up in the fifties and sixties. Driving it was a woman of a certain age with the confident bearing of someone who had been driving that same car, or one like it, for decades. She looked entirely at home behind the wheel. She belonged to the car and the car belonged to her, and neither of them was in any hurry to change. If you know Auckland, that particular corner will register: Queen Stree...
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