Julia Durkin (New Zealand) is the founder/CEO, Auckland Festival of Photography in New Zealand. In 2004 she founded the annual Auckland Festival of Photography in New Zealand, and started a 24-hour people’s competition, Auckland Photo Day. The Auckland Festival of Photography is the longest running photography festival in Australasia, having now curated and directed 19 annual Festivals.
She was awarded the MNZM for services to photography in the New Year’s Honours 2020 for New Zealand. She has been a Portfolio Reviewer for many Festivals in Asia, Europe and Australasia – Kaunas Photo, Lithuania, Pingyao International Photography Festival, China, Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops, Cambodia, Higashikawa International Photography Festival, Japan, Indian Photo Festival, Hyderabad, India & Guatephoto in Guatemala and Obscura Festival of Photography, Malaysia, Chobi Mela, Dhaka, Bangladesh, as well as online portfolio reviewer for Tokyo Institute of Photography, Japan 2020.
She has been an invited judge for prestigious global Nikon Photo Contest, judge for KLPA, Malaysia, and China International Press Photo, Beijing. Invited nominator for the Lou Stoumen Prize 2016 at Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, USA, nominator for Prix Pictet Prize 2015 – Disorder theme, and for the prestigious international Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2022, Germany.
