Mark Lapwood

Mark Lapwood was born and grown up in Palmerston North- a city in New Zealand. He got his first chance to photograph a hotel fire during his school days when he was working in a local photo lab. The next morning he met The Manawatu Standard- the chief photographer and handed over the negatives’ of the photos which got printed on the front page. After that, he got a job in the darkroom at the newspaper. After some time he was promoted to a post of the photographer. Lapwood began his MA in Cinematography, in 1998, from AFTRS. He shot 18 short films during his two years of study. After graduation, his CV has grown up with lots of commercials and cinematography. After his graduation, he got a call from a producer who saw him on the AFTRS’s website.

After six weeks, he shot his first film in southern India named Maya which was banned by the Indian authorities due to its controversial commercials. But the film won many awards in Belgium, New York Click to look into! >> Read More... , and Toronto. It also got an Award from Australian Cinematographers Society which was a proud moment for Mark. Mark Lapwood started his career of photography in a local newspaper in Palmerston North- a city in New Zealand. At the age of 20, he shifted to Sydney, Australia and managed to direct his innovative skills into a job at a company run by his family. Sometimes he used 15 projectors at the same time to run the slide shows in museums and corporate live performances. In 2000, he graduated from Radio School and Australian Film TV. He shot his first feature film after the Maya (Indian Drama). After three years he settled in India and worked around the globe.

In 2011, Mark Lapwood came back to New Zealand. Lapwood moved to Christchurch in New Zealand after he got tired of media hype and there he evaluated photojournalism. He also came up with the innovative idea of mixing the still images with music played with the help of tape recorder. After working on the still images, he now decided to do something with the moving pictures. So, during his study of cinematography, Mark decided to gain some practical experience, which, according to him was the best alternative. Mark Lapwood started getting paid work, after nine months of struggle. For nine months, Mark worked on schools projects and other live performances for free.

Mark became a successful cinematographer under the guidance of experts like Dion Beebe and Don McAlpine. In 2007, he made a short film named Eclipse, which is a portrait of Mumbai which was also screened at Tribeca Film Festival. Eclipse won many awards around the globe. Mark settled in Mumbai for six years, and his talent and work took him to China and US. Many ads were directed by him in Japan, Pakistan, and South Korea. His work got much appreciation from many critics and experts. In 2011 Lapwood returned to New Zealand in 2011. Nowadays, Lapwood is living in Auckland doing commercials, non-fiction, and drama. His Documentary named Whare Tapa wha is also popular and he is also doing the second season of Songs from the Inside.