Amber-Jayne Bain : Photographer

Amber-Jayne Bain : Photographer Photographing people, spaces and food. Commercial and Editorial Photography - specialising in people, spaces and food.

Sharing this photograph of Jimmy, one of my excellent models from DCM - The Downtown Community Ministry. I’ve written a ...
19/02/2026

Sharing this photograph of Jimmy, one of my excellent models from DCM - The Downtown Community Ministry. I’ve written a little about the project this was part of in my journal. Please go there to have a look at it - more than any other thing I’ve been involved in this one is a worthwhile cause. Thanks to and for bringing me on to the project, and to for unhesitating generosity assisting with the shoot.

https://ajbain.com/journal/2026/2/18/we-imagine-alternatives

10/11/2025

Massey Exposure is on now -10-4pm daily, 8-21 November. I have a quiet little work in it. This is a detail from it. I titled it ‘The Restless Dead’, after something Hilary Mantel said in her BBC lecture ‘The Day is for the Living’. She talks about the restless dead asserting their claims, and I guess that’s what the last few years have been about for me. My masters is finished, but this work is the next thing that directly links to the same body of installation works - a moving-still portrait pair, my great Grandmother Rosa, inhabited by my niece Seren. The whole work is viewable in the dark space on Level E of Block 2 - amongst works by other clever graduates from the BFA programmes. Bella, Em, Ana and Eva, thank you for having me share your space. And thanks as always to Mike Bridgman for once again making my work possible. Go along and check out the many exhibits by art, photography and design students - it’s a veritable treasure trove of inspiration.

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A completely fun pair of images made with Martin Bosley for Cuisine Magazine. We have to keep upping the ante, somehow, ...
05/11/2025

A completely fun pair of images made with Martin Bosley for Cuisine Magazine. We have to keep upping the ante, somehow, with this series of seafood heroes. This in the Christmas issue just now - and some top notch writing from Boz that acknowledges the taonga that our crayfish are. We both independently came to this shoot with ideas about it being regal, celebratory, and carrying a cultural history that is pretty embedded with so many people here. I can attest to the absolute deliciousness of this watermelon / cray combo - something I’ve never tried before but would happily devour again. Thanks Fiona Lascelles for trusting me on this one, and Kelli Brett for your always consistent enthusiasm for our madness.

A little while ago I took some fast and furious pictures of some small people in the cold and dark winter evening for Sp...
04/11/2025

A little while ago I took some fast and furious pictures of some small people in the cold and dark winter evening for Space Place- our beloved Pōneke planetarium and museum. I always get a kick out of playing in the dark, even when it’s under a tight timeframe and with a challenging brief. Thanks to all of the Wheako Pōneke crew for having me on board for that mahi. I love your museums so much.

I’m not a sport photographer, but I get to pretend at it sometimes because of my boys. We have become a rowing family in...
03/11/2025

I’m not a sport photographer, but I get to pretend at it sometimes because of my boys. We have become a rowing family in the last three years, and although most of the pictures I take of that are focused on the rowers faces and activity, what I really like is light and water. This was a pretty moment from the coach boat (which I had to climb into from another boat mid-river with my camera slung across to the gallant driver… I am very very undignified getting in and out of boats on water or land 😂. But I like the adventure of it. And love seeing the rowers in action.

There’s a fun new project in town - Woodward Street Distillery have launched a fresh new vodka brand called Chi Chi. The...
16/10/2025

There’s a fun new project in town - Woodward Street Distillery have launched a fresh new vodka brand called Chi Chi. The brief was a lighthearted, 70s, Studio54 vibe. I love any kind of lighting challenge, so making this happen was good fun. They have a fab promo happening right now - head over to and you can so easily be in the draw to win a $100 night out at 11 Woodward Street.
Thanks and Ella for bringing the ingredients, and thanks for bringing me on board.
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I’ve been rather busy of late, and one of the fun things I got to do was work with the brilliant Siobhan Clark art direc...
09/10/2025

I’ve been rather busy of late, and one of the fun things I got to do was work with the brilliant Siobhan Clark art directing and Jamie Schaefer of Homegrown Creative, and with my wonderful collaborator Nikki Parlane (on Motion) for this year’s Student Job Search campaign. We had such gorgeous young (and older) people get busy in an array of Pōneke locations to show some of the mahi that SJS assignments might involve. I loved working for SJS again, and it was even more fun this year with Nikki on board - I think we danced around each other so happily, and I’d work with her again in a heartbeat. Thanks also to my stalwart sometime assistant Paula Collier, who is so familiar with what I need, and stepped up in all of the ways as I’m so accustomed to her doing. Great team - all women production on set for this one, and it was brilliant.

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This kid hit 16 today, which means I have been a mum for the same time- both interminable and fleeting. The picture from...
08/10/2025

This kid hit 16 today, which means I have been a mum for the same time- both interminable and fleeting. The picture from a test shoot about three years ago, and now he is even longer of limb and deeper of voice than any of the rest of us. Freshly armed with a road code and a pair of size 13 crocs. Where did all of that childhood go?

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