Rachel Mataira’s painterly aerial photographs reveal the diversity of New Zealand’s vast landscape

Auckland-based landscape and documentary photographer Rachel Mataira worked in accounting and taxation before turning her side passion into a career, gaining the confidence to go full-time after her documentary work had been published by various organisations and outlets and she was named New Zealand Geographic’s Young Photographer of the Year in 2020. ‘Photography has always inspired me to explore our environment and to be acutely aware of nature. My landscape photography focuses on the ever-changing beauty of our earth and how we interact with it,’ she says. ‘I’m fascinated by natural lighting, shadows, scale and seasonal changes. The pandemic means my photography is locally based for now, but I’m excited to start exploring other countries’ landscapes once the borders are open again.’

Previous page For a brief period in autumn, the trees around Lake Tekapo in New Zealand’s South Island turn bright yellow and orange, a striking contrast against the ice-blue waters

Lake Wānaka, also in the South Island, is filled with diverse landscapes, from farmland and glacial lakes to braided rivers

Top Evening shadows over farmland around Lake Wānaka

Bottom An image taken over Haast Pass / Tioripatea shows the area’s lush vegetation