Local film-maker Nick Stevenson has been working with some of the most talented photographers and athletes in New Zealand to produce his book, Eden: A portrait of mountain biking in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The book features photography and short stories from across New Zealand’s mountainbiking meccas, including Wānaka.
Central Otago features heavily throughout with imagery, stories and personalities involved. Local photographers Callum Wood, Miles Holden and Stefan Haworth, as well as several professional mountainbikers who call Queenstown home are featured.
The book recently won the Mountain Image award at this year’s Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.
Stevenson said he hoped the book would encourage both domestic and international mountainbike tourists to visit and ride in the region.
"That is the beauty of the book, there is really diverse landscape of New Zealand and photos from all around."
He continues to follow his eclectic passions of mountainbiking, actionsports, architecture and design and lives in Wānaka with his wife Candice and children Tate, Margot and Tor.
"In the film industry, I was working with these photographers on brand campaigns for mountainbiking companies all around the world. We would see these beautiful photos being shot and there would be a lot not being used," he said.
"The clients or media or brand wouldn’t use them and so I talked to a few and looked through the archives and thought maybe there is a purpose for these."
Stevenson is based at Hunt Cinemaphotos and stories in Wānaka.
"Few countries in the world serve up such diverse mountainbiking landscapes as New Zealand. With a labyrinth of trails that flow, challenge and excite set against a backdrop of dramatic and surreal landscapes, New Zealand has become the ‘Garden of Eden’ for mountainbikers," he said.
The book has contributions by leading photographers and professional athletes who have contributed to and documented the rise of mountainbiking.
"Eden is a stunning collection of mountainbiking photography and essays capturing the growth of this young sport in one of the youngest countries in the world.
"This book is for daydreaming and for inspiring bucket list adventure-making in the mountainbike paradise of New Zealand."
The book is already on shelves and online.
