Rachael McKenna (born 1971) is a photographer from New Zealand, described by the

Bay of Plenty Times The ''Bay of Plenty Times'' is the regional daily paper for the Bay of Plenty area, including Tauranga, in the North Island of New Zealand. History The ''Bay of Plenty Times'' was first produced on 4 September 1872 as a bi-weekly publication. It ...

as "one of the world's best-known animal photographers". She has published at least 19 books of photographs, primarily of animals and children, which have sold millions of copies. Her work has also featured on

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...

s and

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

s. McKenna has been taking photographs since the age of eight and says she has always wanted to be a photographer. She graduated from

Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...

with a diploma of arts, majoring in photography and

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

. Her first job was as an assistant to photographer

Anne Geddes Anne Elizabeth Geddes (born 1956) is an Australian-born, New York City-based portrait photographer known primarily for her elaborately staged photographs of infants. Geddes's books have been published in 83 countries. According to Amazon.com ...

for three years. She has worked around the world, has lived in France, New York City, and currently resides in

Central Otago Central Otago is an area located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River ...

. McKenna originally worked under the name Rachael Hale, and built a brand under that name, but sold the Rachel Hale brand in 2007. She then worked as Rachael Hale McKenna, then as Rachael McKenna. She is married and has a daughter.

References

External links

* 1971 births Living people New Zealand women photographers University of Auckland alumni Photographers from Auckland People from Wānaka {{NewZealand-photographer-stub