A passion for telling the stories of unseen people and aligning photography with her sustainability values, has led a Central photographer to win a prestigious international photography award. 

Camilla Rutherford, a mum of two boys, who lives on a high country merino station near Tarras, spent almost two weeks away from her family in July shooting her personal project ‘Once were Farmers’ in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Camilla Rutherford. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

The project won gold at the 2024 International Photography Awards (IPA) in the press and contemporary issues category.

Camilla told The Central App it was the first time she had done something like this, and the wholly self funded trip meant leaving her children for the first significant length of time.

‘Once were Farmers’ tells the story of the “recycling villages” in Hanoi where other peoples’ rubbish is sorted by families who used to have rice fields. 

Each village specialises in a type of rubbish, one sorts plastic bags, another water bottles, plastic buckets, and plastic toys. 

The plastic is munched up by machines and washed; with no rules or regulations in place for farmers to protect their health or to minimise environmental impacts. 

“[There was] burning plastic in the streets.. all the water washed down the drain and the workers dealing with all of that.” 

Camilla behind the scenes on her shoot in Hanoi. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

On location plastic recycling was everywhere in the villages she visited. PHOTO: SUPPLIED 

She described the project as making a huge impact on her, calling it “harrowing and life changing”.

“I put so much work into it . . . it is an art piece not a shock piece. I wanted to bring awareness to something we don’t think about.

“I’m still waiting for the happy ending . . . I was quite distraught after it.”

A quote that resonated with Camilla about her hopes for the project was: "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced".

Camilla and her Vietnamese guide who accompanied her to remote locations for her project. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

New Zealand still sends a quarter of it’s recycling overseas to vulnerable communities to deal with, and there was an element of people here thinking recyclable meant okay, she said.

“Recyclable doesn’t mean it goes away… recycling is not what we thought it was.”

Camilla had to get permission from a town mayor to go and take photos in one particular village.

“[People in Hanoi] didn’t make enough money from farming… but they make enough money from recycling plastic, and I’m not judging that.’’

Chopped up bits of plastic are washed in this image. PHOTO: CAMILLA RUTHERFORD 

“I love it when [photography] asks questions of it all. I’m passionate about getting people to think differently.”

After the time she spent on location she was so impacted by what she saw. Camilla went to the mountains in northern Vietnam for a two day retreat to recuperate.

Camilla said this Halloween, Black Friday or Christmas people should ask themselves; ‘Do you really need this [item]?... just because it is only $2 at [a shop].”

Camilla and her husband transitioned to regenerative farming about eight years ago, and have a zero waste focus, including growing their own food, refilling everything, shopping at a waste free supermarket and buying second hand when they can.

“We use no plastic, no baleage wrap… we want to be completely self sustainable.

“After a total of two weeks away, when I came back the kitchen bin was only half full.”

She said that felt good to see upon her return home. 

For more about the prize winning work see Once were Farmers or follow Camilla on Instagram

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