The Maniototo is a huge, elevated inland plain in the Central Otago region, on the South Island of New Zealand. Surrounded by mountain ranges, it is characterized by its vast open landscapes, rock formations, and wide horizons, giving it its ‘big sky country’ nickname. It is a lesser-visited part of the country and, as such, has been less impacted by modern tourism and development. Traditional rural industries such as sheep farming continue to thrive here, and old buildings dating to the 19th century and, more recently, the Art Deco architectural style of the 1930s are beautifully preserved.
In the past, the Maniototo played a significant part in the Otago Gold Rush era of the 1860s. Several small settlements scattered across the area tell the story of this gold mining history, not the least of which is the village of St Bathans.
The only way to access the village today is by way of a loop road, of which the road pictured is a part. Dominating the landscape is Mount St Bathans (2,088m/6,850ft), and the lone pine tree in the foreground has long been a favorite compositional element for the relatively few photographers who venture here, and it’s easy to see why: the converging lines and kink in the gravel road, and the shape of the tree itself—carefully pruned over many years to allow farm transports to pass beneath the lower branches—leading our eye into the mountain scene in the distance.
I made this image in August, towards the end of the New Zealand winter. The warm light cast across the grasslands shortly after sunrise was particularly enticing, adding a richness and color contrast to the scene which might be somewhat lost later in the day.
Sadly, the scene is no more. The foreground tree was recently vandalized and cut down. While there are valid conservation arguments for removing non-native wilding pine trees from the New Zealand landscape, it is usually illegal to cut down a roadside tree on public/Council-managed land without the permission of the local authority. Whether felled legally or not, this composition is no longer reproducible.
