Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s Documenting Our Heritage photo competition for Mid & South Canterbury has been a huge success, with over 170 photo entries.

The winners were announced at Rokowhiria Ashburton Art Gallery & Museum on Saturday and include photographs of heritage listed buildings in and around the Ashburton District.

The overall winner was Roselyn Fauth, for her pic of the Timaru Milling Co building, while runners-up were Mark von Huben (who photographed the Church of the Holy Innocents at Mount Peel), Kirsty-Ann Saxon (Mount Hutt Road Board office at Methven) and Tim Holmes (Waimate grain silos).

The team from Heritage New Zealand chose Bryan Gellatly’s image of the Federated Farmers building in Ashburton as their favourite.

All the photos are now be on display at the Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum until 17 May.
Rokowhiria’s director, Shirin Khosraviani, is thrilled to be hosting the exhibition.

“It’s been great to see the high level of engagement with this competition and the variety and quality of entries on display celebrating the heritage of our region.”

Judge Bill Irwin had a tough job.

“It was a process of elimination with so many entries. I really had to go back to the aim of the competition, which was to show the building or site clearly in its context”.

Bill was impressed with the effort behind the images. “I could really see that a lot of people had spent time with their entries. They had explored the sites looking for an interesting view or angle.”

Bill enjoyed the judging process and has been inspired to explore the Mid and South Canterbury regions further. “A lot of these places are now on my radar to visit if I’m passing through the area.”

The overall competition winner is Roselyn Fauth, with a beautiful photo of the Timaru Milling Co. building.  She won a Crater Experience stargazing adventure with Dark Sky Project.

For Bill Irwin, this image stood out. “It was clean photo without distractions, in lovely light and nicely composed.”

There were three runners up, each with strikingly different images.

Mark von Huben’s atmospheric image of the Church of the Holy Innocents at Mount Peel wins three nights’ accommodation at a Department of Conservation cabin in the Peel Forest Campground.

Kirsty-Ann Saxon captured the former Mount Hutt Road Board Office on stunning sunny day, winning a family pass to Te Ana Ngāi Tahu Rock Art Centre courtesy of Tohu Whenua. And Tim Holmes’ compelling black and white images of the Waimate grain silos wins a family sightseeing lift pass to Mt Hutt Ski Area.

Heritage New Zealand area manager for Canterbury/West Coast Arlene Baird said photos by Mike Hodgkinson, Bryan Gellatly and Lyndon Connor were also highly commended.

“There were so many diverse places and creative shots that we wanted to recognise.”

And Heritage New Zealand staff couldn’t resist picking a team favourite - Bryan Gellatly’s amazing reflective photo of the Federated Farmers Building in Ashburton.

“The most popular sites to photograph were the Ashburton rail footbridge, industrial buildings in Timaru and St Patrick’s Union Church on Fairlie-Tekapo Road,” Arlene said.

As well as being exhibited at Rokowhiria, the photos will also have ongoing impact, as they will be uploaded to Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga’s online New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero.