My Wellington: From crime scenes to canines, this is life beyond the lens for a forensic photographer

Saturday, 15 November 2025

Police forensic photographer Sergeant Jane Dunn spoke to The Post about life beyond the lens in a “big little city”.

By day, Sergeant Jane Dunn is New Zealand Police’s first National Forensic Imaging Trainer, training the next generation of crime scene photographers. But after hours, Dunn turns her lens to the lighter side of life in blue when she photographs her canine colleagues across Wellington - the “big little city” she calls home.

Are you a born and bred Wellingtonian?

I’m actually a born and bred Nelsonian, but I’ve been in Wellington for 15 years so I’d call myself a Wellingtonian now. We moved here when my now-husband got a job at police HQ in organised crime. Initially, I was a call-taker and dispatcher, and then I was a community cop, and then I became a photographer, and that’s where I’ve stayed because I just love it.

What drew you to forensic photography?

I don’t want to make myself sound like a weirdo, but I’d been into serial killers since I was about 9 or 10, so the whole idea of being involved in forensics was always interesting to me. It wasn’t until I moved here that I found out about forensic photography, and I knew immediately that was me.

What do you love about Wellington?

I love that big little city feel. I love that it’s a big city, but it doesn’t feel too big to get around. If you want to go to the Hutt, it’s easy. If you want to be in town, it’s easy. Everything’s there or thereabouts, you don’t have to get in a car and travel for hours to get something. But it also has a big city feeling.

Dunn standing with her winning photo of Niho the dog, who is based in Central District.

I also think the whole adage of “you can’t beat Wellington on a good day” is one of those things that’s totally true. But I also think you can’t beat Wellington on a bad day either. There’s lots of talk about the city centre dying, but I think it’s such a cool, vibrant, arty city.

What part of Wellington do you live in, and why?

We’re in the Porirua area. When we first moved here, we moved right into the city, but we wanted to buy and were priced out of that market, so we had to move further north. It’s nice out there, with all the parks. We walk a lot out in Whitireia Park and Tītahi Bay with our dog, so there’s lots of cool spaces out that way for us. For me, it’s like a smaller version of Melbourne. It’s got the same vibrancy, and you can wander around and meet all kinds of characters.

Going into crime scenes and photographing victims must be really heavy. What do you do to unwind?

I’ve got a two-year-old golden retriever. I spend a lot of time with him. The other thing I do is take photos of police dogs. On a weekend or a day off, I’ll set up going out with a dog handler. I want to use my camera to see good things too, not always just the horrible. It’s nice to be able to pick up the camera and look through the lens and see something nice. I also enjoy crafting, like crochet and embroidery.

Who would your nominee for Wellingtonian of the Year be?

Anyone who works in animal rescue, like HUHA NZ, who drive around picking up animals that are in non-safe environments. Those people do what they do without huge money, relying on donations, to go out and save these animals. They do incredible work.