Who am I?
As you already know, my name is Josh Overend. But here’s a couple of things you may not know about me. In 2022, I graduated from university with a degree in biology and am now working in conservation.
My job at the Styx Living Laboratory Trust involves habitat restoration on the Pūharakekenui River catchment. This is my first job in the conservation field and I intend to pursue a career in this field. My passion for wildlife photography and career in conservation go hand in hand by helping me not only provide information about Aotearoa’s magnificent wildlife, but also help ensure that these animals can thrive alongside humans.
I am also fortunate enough to volunteer at the South Island Wildlife Hospital, which allows me to get hands on with some of the most magnificent animals found in Aotearoa like the Okarito Kiwi and Tawaki (Fiordland Crested Penguin)!
While I currently focus on photographing New Zealand wildlife complemented with animals found in zoos, I want to travel the world in pursuit of some of the planet’s most at-risk and endangered species.
Why I do what I do?
Toutouwai | South Island Robin
I originally took up photography as a hobby because I have loved wildlife for as long as I can remember, and photography was a way for me to capture the magnificent animals that I had seen in zoos across the world. But it quickly consumed me and became a medium to promote conservation surrounding many of the endangered species found around the world, and also here, in New Zealand, in our wee corner of the world.
I do what I do to a shine light on our precious taonga and many exotic species that others may not know even exist. Publishing my images gives me a platform to share with the world the important work that is currently going on to preserve our endangered and unique species, but also suggest how we can help these animals, and why we need to protect wildlife that may not be endangered yet.
Leopard Seal
Kererū
How I Started
While I began my photography journey properly at Taronga Zoo while on a family trip to Sydney in 2019, after stealing my sister’s brand new camera and taking photos of every animal I could, my love for wildlife began at a very young age.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved wildlife. Every opportunity I could, I was out looking for birds, pestering my parents to take me to the zoo, and asking why I couldn’t have certain animals like crocodiles and snakes as pets.
This obsession stemmed from my idol, Steve Irwin. He was my superhero growing up and I even went to Australia Zoo dressed up as him when I was four! I never grew out of this phase and wildlife and conservation became a part of my DNA.
In school, I studied animals everywhere I could, taking biology and environmental classes throughout my time there and realised that I could turn this into a career. This led me to studying a degree in biology at the University of Canterbury and my photography hobby works seamlessly alongside my love of animals to help convey important conservation messages.
What’s next for me?
Conservation and photography will continue to be at the forefront of my career.
I want to push my limits and progress my training in the conservation field. Fortunately, living in Aotearoa means there are hundreds of endemic and unique species that you can photograph and work alongside. Some things I would like to get involved with include volunteering with kakapo on Whenua Hou Island, monitoring marine mammal populations like Orca, and working to help conserve and promote Hoiho (Yellow-eyed Penguins).
One of my aims is to explore underwater photography. This challenging field of photography excites me because as soon as you dive below the surface, you enter another world. We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the ocean floor! There is such a range of biodiversity in the oceans across the globe and the thought of diving with various sharks, whales and sea snakes gives me butterflies of excitement.
Travelling is one of the most exciting things for me. While others travel the world to see the Eiffel Tower or the Colosseum, I would rather travel the world photographing wildlife like the Siberian Tiger and African Elephants. I want to explore as many of the wildlife hotspots around the world that I can including the Gunung Lesung National Park in Sumatra, the Amazon Rainforest, and Yellowstone National Park to name a few. But my top bucket list place to visit for me would be the Serengeti in Africa!
Salvin’s Mollymawk