Ray Salisbury

Ray Salisbury began a lifelong passion for photography and tramping in the early 1970s. He was introduced to camping, hiking and kayaking by the Boys’ Brigade. As an 11-year-old, he walked the 80km Heaphy Track in Northwest Nelson with his father. Later, he qualified with a degree in graphic design and photography at AUT in Auckland.

During the 1990s Ray began leading trips into the backcountry, accompanied by his friends. These private adventures culminated in a solo 80-day traverse of the North Island mountain ranges, starting at East Cape and ending at Cape Egmont. This epic formed the narrative of his first book, 'Cape to Cape', self-published in 1997.

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Prior to entering teacher’s college in 2000, Ray was assistant editor of Wilderness magazine for a year. Since then, he has been a regular contributor. When Ray and his wife moved to Nelson, he joined the Nelson Tramping Club, becoming editor of the club journal for a decade.

In 2020, Ray’s second book was published by Potton and Burton. Titled 'Tableland – the history behind Mt Arthur,' the book is a social history of the eastern part of Kahurangi National Park.

In 2022 he self-published a picture book on Nelson with a concise historical overview woven through the pages.

Ray currently works as a photographer, videographer and writer as well as teaching photography at www.hotpixels.co.nz.