Matawai farmer and rural photographer Rebecca Williams has been named a category winner in the prestigious International Pet Photography Awards — the only New Zealander to do so.
Williams’ image of her huntaway dog penning sheep in the morning light has won the mother of three first place in the documentary category of the world’s largest pet photography competition.
She also won a Silver Distinction Award in the competition for her shot of dogs working sheep on her and husband Guy’s Matawai farm.
“I often try to get images when dogs are working a mob and sometimes it’s all a blur, but this time it all came together,” Williams said.
In its sixth year, the worldwide competition attracted 3621 entries from 41 countries. Categories were action, creative, pets and people, portrait, equine and documentary.
An overall winner, the top 100 photos and other distinctions were also acknowledged.
Unlike some categories which allow photo editing, the documentary category entries had to be single-capture images portraying an actual event or situation.
Williams’ winning photograph tells a story of canine teamwork.
It was taken in March 2024, while Williams, her husband and their dogs were mustering lambs on the family’s hill country sheep and beef farm.
Puke (Māori for hill) is Williams’ six-year-old huntaway and the narrative focus in the image.
“It had been a wet start to the day,” she said. “Despite the distractions and noise of an early morning penning, I noticed the combination of the curious farm horses and the beauty of the backlit scene.
“I had my smaller camera with me and grabbed a photo.
“I was lucky there was a documentary category as I prefer to capture the moment. Guy was probably thinking ‘Hurry up and put your camera down’.”
Ten international images made it into the documentary category final. Two belonged to Williams.
“It was truly surprising and an incredible honour to be named a finalist let alone the eventual winner.”
The international panel of judges noted the lighting and storytelling qualities of her winning image.
Williams felt the uniqueness of New Zealand’s landscape and the intelligent and boisterous Kiwi work dogs may also have caught the judges’ attention.
She has been photographing rural life for the past 10 years.
Her images document the rhythm of stock sales, dog trials and farm field days.
Huntaway and heading dogs remain her favourite aspect of farm life to photograph.
“They work tirelessly for their owners in all types of weather. It’s the glimpses of loyalty to their human masters and their selfless reliability that I seek to capture.”
Most of the 10 finalists in the documentary category were dog shots.
