Behind the scenes
Belinda Merrie is an interiors and still life photographer, so spends her days in beautiful homes or hidden away in a studio obsessing over tiny details. She’s worked for NZ House & Garden for nearly 10 years.
I’ve always loved interiors: I remember happily trailing around after my mother picking out wallpapers and curtain fabrics. Chintz Austrian blinds were du jour: I got them in pink. I covet a massive amount of homeware: I have had to adopt a “can adore but don’t need to acquire” mentality. This issue, I photographed the tableware feature (page 49) and loved the delicate proportions and colour of the cakestand, both unexpected. I live: In a small 1940s ex-state house in St Heliers with my husband Gareth and daughter Lily. We love the area and the neighbours so will probably never move.
After years spent travelling the world, photographing mostly architecture and gardens, Kallan MacLeod is settled in Auckland, where he’s renovating a 50s terraced house in Freemans Bay. In this issue, he shot the apartment on page 90. I’m looking forward to: Having a place for my collection of mid-century furniture gathered over many years.
I love living in the inner city: I’m in a group of six terraced houses where there’s a nice sense of neighbourhood and restaurants close by. But it’s also very green all year round, with an old pōhutukawa outside and lots of natives. One of my favourite places: The Princes’ Islands, a 45-minute ferry ride from Istanbul, where I lived for five years. There are no cars and beautiful old Ottoman houses with big gardens.