Stephen Roke is a commercial advertising and corporate photographer, operating from his fully equipped studio in central Auckland, New Zealand. He is widely recognised for the highly developed flair and meticulous attention to detail, which he brings to his work.
His images demonstrate a careful utilisation of both natural and artificial lighting, often incorporating colour and texture as supporting elements. He has an aptitude for recognising or creating meaningful images in the synthetic or natural landscape. If his picture is to include people, regardless of their proficiency, Stephen is known for the care he takes to prepare them for the making of the image. Great care is taken to select all people involved in Stephen’s productions.
Photography was a large part of family life whilst growing up. His first photo was one “stolen” on his father’s unattended camera! The passion for taking photographic images could not be suppressed by his initial teaching career, which lasted only so long as it took him to find an assistant photographic position where he set about learning his craft. Having been in sole practice since 1988, he is well established and respected by his peers for his knowledge of photography, particularly for his understanding and exploitation of recent digital advances.
Stephen Roke’s ideal brief for a shoot comes from that given by Alexey Brodovitch to a young Richard Avedon: “Astonish me”!
