WineNZ Summer 18-19 (1)

kevin judd | feature
The Quiraing, Trotternish Ridge, Isle of Skye.
also keen to make more of a push into
photography. It was a toss-up which path
he would follow.
However, the world was changing fast,
and while good photographers could still
make a living from shooting weddings
and a handful from commission work,
the backside was falling out of the stock
picture business.
As soon as big digital files could be
sent by email, the business model was
under threat. Mick Rock’s business used
to employ six fulltime staff, but it is now
back to being an owner-operator outfit.
Kevin still sells prints, but the stock
picture sales are now a small fraction of
what they once were.
A beneficiary of his photography talent,
however, has been the Cancer Society, which
has used his photographs on calendars
and for other fundraising purposes, and
has benefitted by more than $30,000 in
the process.
Books have also been marginal financial
enterprises in recent years, so Kevin’s
pragmatic decision to have Greywacke
provide his income, while keeping
photography largely as a hobby, was a
sound one.
For those who enjoy visiting new places,
a massive benefit of running a successful
wine business is the travel. Kevin and
wife Kimberley spend months each year
visiting importers and distributors, renewing
contracts and dipping toes in to new markets.
And every time they pack their bags,
Kevin’s cameras go too. The day after I
interviewed Kevin for this article, he left
for Hong Kong, China and Japan and was
already working on ideas for a fresh batch
of images.
And while the internet was responsible
for the demise of the stock photography
business, it has made a huge new audience
aware of Kevin’s photographs, thanks to
social media.
The benefits of the Twitter/Facebook/
Instagram exposure are difficult to quantify,
but online photographs have certainly lifted
the profile of Greywacke on social media,
and increased interest in the brand, and
have resulted in wine sales.
Kevin’s stunning photograph of the
Richmond Range, which was used as the
base for the bottle label image, as well as
his winemaking talent, helped Cloudy Bay
rise from the early pack of Marlborough
startups to be the most recognized New
Zealand wine brand in the world.
Now his photography and his winemaking
and wine-selling talents are boosting
Greywacke as a commercially successful
wine business, known for producing
interesting wines, such as Wild Sauvignon,
but also wines that are technically excellent
and delightful to sip on a summer’s evening.
Castle Stalker, near Glen Coe, Scotland.
Boathouse at Kilchoan, Scotland.
Lightning, Mojave Desert, US.
Atlantic Puffin, Borgarfjordur, Iceland.
www.winenzmagazine.co.nz
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