{"id":283067,"date":"2026-02-14T01:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/283067\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T01:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T01:14:08","slug":"andy-belcher-photographer-who-said-yes-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/283067\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Belcher: Photographer who said \u2018Yes\u2019 to life"},"content":{"rendered":"

From those early days, Andy\u2019s photography knew no limits. A career spanning four decades, he captured everything from daring adventure sports, including skydiving and abseiling into Waitomo\u2019s Lost World Cave, to intimate underwater encounters with marine life, and candid moments of New Zealand\u2019s tourism and coastal communities. <\/p>\n

\" Andy Belcher created this striking cover image Need for Speed while riding the motorcycle himself. He engineered a custom camera mount onto his bike and triggered the shutter via cordless remote. Selected from 1730 entries, the image won second place overall at 2012\u2019s Creative Asia Travel Photographer of the Year Awards. Photo \/ Andy Belcher<\/p>\n

His work earned him 84 international awards, including the British Wildlife Photographer of the Year in 1997, presented by Sir Richard Attenborough for his striking grouper photograph taken in Vanuatu.<\/p>\n

Andy\u2019s adventurous spirit was inseparable from his work. He survived a tsunami in Samoa in 2009, warning others and saving his cameras in the process. In Vanuatu, a playful dugong nearly pulled him underwater during a shoot. And in 2020, his photograph of a storm sweeping over Maket\u016b resonated with locals, capturing the quiet intensity of life during Covid-19 lockdown.<\/p>\n

His approach to photography was as bold as his exploits. Whether asked to photograph a new subject, explore a remote cave, or take on a challenging dive, Andy embraced it with curiosity, courage, and creativity. Friends recall his \u201cirrepressible spirit\u201d and \u201ccontagious enthusiasm,\u201d qualities that inspired those around him both in and out of the water.<\/p>\n

More than a decade ago, Andy provided a photography blog on SunLive, Through Andy\u2019s Lens, where he shared some local scenes. He also regularly sent in images for The Weekend Sun\u2019s news pages \u2013 including many photographs capturing Maketu and that end of the Western Bay of Plenty district. <\/p>\n

Notably, he supplied images of \u2018Moko the dolphin\u2019 a male bottlenose which associated with humans along the East Coast from 2007-2010 and was found dead on the shore of Matakana Island July 7, 2010.<\/p>\n

\" Andy\u2019s turtle shot at Heron Island, Australia, which won a British Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Photo \/ Andy Belcher<\/p>\n

The Weekend Sun editor Merle Cave said it was very sad to hearing of Andy\u2019s death and her thoughts were with his family and friends at this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndy was a well-respected photographer in the Bay of Plenty, and across the world, who had immense skill in capturing people and locations with care and respect. His body of work is legendary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cave said Andy was a great advocate for Maket\u016b and the Bay of Plenty. <\/p>\n

\u201cAndy kindly supplied many photographs of anything and everything to the newspaper over the years. He was an incredible contributor who brought many of our news stories and features to life with his talented photography.\u201d <\/p>\n

Internationally, his underwater images, adventure shots, and environmental photographs were exhibited and celebrated, bringing attention to marine conservation and the richness of New Zealand\u2019s natural world. <\/p>\n

In 2024, he won the LegaSea NZ \u2018Our FishCare Summer Photo Competition,\u2019 taking top honours for his underwater scorpionfish composition and claiming prizes in landscape and coastal categories.<\/p>\n

\" Andy Belcher took this photo of cave snorkelling in Vavau, Tonga. Photo \/ Andy Belcher<\/p>\n

Andy\u2019s friends, family, and colleagues remember him as a man who lived life fully. Dive buddy Adrienne Hartley recalled, \u201cI will never forget you, your zest for life and passion for living\u201d. <\/p>\n

Longtime mate Barry Dick spoke of \u201c50 years of friendship and many, many dives together,\u201d while photographer Pete Mesley reflected on Andy\u2019s lasting impact: \u201cEvery time I \u2018kiss any image with light\u2019 I think of him\u201d.<\/p>\n

Late in life, Andy was well-known locally for his drone photography and scenic prints from throughout the Bay of Plenty.<\/p>\n

Beyond the accolades and adventure, Andy was a devoted partner to Annie, a loving father to Ben and Ocean, whom he shared with their mother Angie, and a cherished grandfather to seven grandchildren. His life was a blend of courage, artistry, generosity, and humour \u2013 a combination that has left an indelible mark on everyone who knew him.<\/p>\n

\" A photograph Andy belcher took of ‘Boris the grouper’ in Tonga. Photo \/ Andy Belcher<\/p>\n

Andy Belcher\u2019s photographs will continue to speak for him, preserving his vision of a world full of wonder, challenge, and beauty. He captured life not just with a camera, but with a philosophy: embrace opportunity, explore widely, and live boldly. <\/p>\n

In the words of Andy himself, \u201cAn opportunity can open something else, and you never know what can come from it. Always say \u2018yes\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a philosophy he lived every day.<\/p>\n

Andy\u2019s prints and images are still available to purchase. Visit Andy\u2019s website at: https:\/\/www.andybelcher.com\/<\/a> or email his daughter at: content@oceanpatrice.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From those early days, Andy\u2019s photography knew no limits. A career spanning four decades, he captured everything from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[18919,20251,18214,442,498,499,500,158052,23738,501,11481,156,68199,424,5836,47152,111,139,69,45641,13636,3048,99504,61,1299,102,40244],"class_list":["post-283067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-aged","tag-andrew","tag-andy","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-belcher","tag-brightest","tag-design","tag-edward","tag-entertainment","tag-january","tag-life","tag-lost","tag-maket","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-passing","tag-photographer","tag-said","tag-spirits","tag-to","tag-who","tag-with","tag-yes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}