Image: Emily Rouse
The 2021/22 winter crop harvest on the east coast of Australia provided the perfect opportunity for budding bush photographers to flex their skills.
GrainCorp’s 2021 Harvest Photo Competition unearthed some incredible talent, with scenes captured from places like the cab of a header, the sample stand at receival sites and of course, the sky (when the weather occasionally cleared).
Winners
1st place
Mat Bale
“This photo was taken at our farm, Bale Farming, while windrowing canola besides the Western Highway, just west of Kaniva, Victoria. The harvest went really well, there was a little bit of frost but we were very happy with the yields.”
Judge’s comment: We felt this photo captured a lot of the underlying themes of the harvest. Canola was an outstanding performer for growers this year and so many people love to see those tell-tale fields of gold. The moody sky overhead casting a shadow on the field also encapsulates what a mixed bag the weather was this season.
2nd place
Amy Ryan
“Harvest is done for another year and wasn’t it a good one! This is the first harvest we have done in a few years as it’s been a tough few years with not enough moisture. We got a rainbow at the end of our hard work.“
Judge’s comment: This photo encapsulates what harvest looked like for many growers; it was a long and challenging harvest with the ever-present threat of rain under La Nina conditions. They are watching the rain quickly approaching and the rainbow is a real analogy for the hope that can be found on the horizon of every harvest. Best of all – it’s a real family affair in this shot, with the kids and the dogs all a part of it!
3rd place
Budi Santoso
“I’m a working holidaymaker from Indonesia. I started work for GrainCorp from late April 2021 as casual at the Cryon site during the outloading season. This is my first year as a harvest casual and I learned a lot about grain, bunkers and safety.”
Judge’s comment: The technical brilliance of this shot really caught our eye; he’s done a wonderful job of capturing the shifting night sky, with the sample stand looming out of the darkness. Many of our sites run 24/7 in the peak of harvest and some are quite remote, so we’ve got no doubt this would have been a common sight for our teams and growers.
Special mention
Carol Chen
Judge’s comment: Carol was one of our harvest casuals at Boggabri, NSW, who captured some fantastic shots of life on site at GrainCorp. The action is often flat chat so it’s nice to see a moment of calm where the team can take a quick break. There’s a couple of different generations in this photo who would have plenty of harvest stories to tell, between them! The colour and composition of this shot makes you feel as if you are standing there with the photographer.
Gallery of entries
There were many other wonderful entries to the competition which can be viewed in the gallery below, or by searching the #graincorpharvest2021 tag on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
