Runa and Holly

Runa Kuru Kristjonsdottir and Holly Tong are the collaborative duo behind Runa + Holly, a creative partnership built on friendship, a love of beautiful things and the power of two creative perspectives working together. Runa, an Iceland-born photographer, and Holly, a New Zealand, event florist, bring their distinct skills, style and way of seeing. Together, they negotiate each image from composition, balance of light and mood, and softness and strength to create something neither could alone. Their first collection was created with wedding bouquets when Holly was midway through a busy wedding season. Influenced originally by the Dutch Masters of the 15th and 16th centuries, their photographic work carries painterly qualities, rich in detail, and mood. Each photograph captures florals at the moment of fragile impermanence, just as Frida Kahlo painted flowers "so they would not die". Runa's portraiture background brings emotional sensitivity to the frame, while Holly's floral compositions are intuitive and raw, using flowers and foliage she gathers from local growers, her own garden as well as foraged locally. The work is created entirely in natural light, outdoors.

Since Launching their first collection in 2017, Runa + Holly have released five collections of limited edition photographic prints, as well as some commission work with international brands. Their art has been included in national and international exhibitions and shows.

2017 - LOCAL SOLO EXIBITION, GISBORNE, NZ