Felicity Thomas has turned herself into an award winning photographer by simply recording her work. Pictured here with her dog Max.
Felicity Thomas never expected to win a photography award, she just loves working the family farm and recording the daily lifestyle taking photos on her phone while she works.
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This year she was one of 12 winning photographers in Rural Aid’s 2026 Spirit of the Bush competition, with her winning photo ‘Dry Times’ featuring in the 2027 calendar.
Felicity’s photo was taken in January 2020 using her phone camera while working on the family farm, and captures how far-reaching the effects from the Corryong bushfires were that year.
She said that year was a particularly dry year and she was outside feeding the livestock when she decided to take the photo as a record of what was happening at the time.
“I love taking photos while I’m out working, it gives me something to do while I’m on the tractor,” Felicity said.
“I share them with my grandparents to show them what I’m up to.
“This photo shows the impact that drought has on farmers in their day-to-day duties of feeding and the resilience of the animals when faced with hardship.”
Felicity said she doesn’t take photos professionally and had no intention of entering her photo into a competition when she took it, she just likes to capture what’s happening around her.
She particularly enjoys taking photos of their livestock.
Felicity’s award winning photo ‘Dry Times’ is one of 12 photos that will make up Rural Aid’s 2027 Spirit of the Bush calendar to raise funds for farmers, their families and rural communities.
Spirit of the Bush is a photography competition celebrating the people, landscapes, resilience and everyday moments that capture the true spirit of rural and regional Australia.
Since launching in 2020, the competition has built a powerful visual archive of rural life, capturing the resilience, humour, hardship, pride and beauty that define the bush.
Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said the competition provided an important opportunity to showcase the people and places that make rural and regional Australia so special.
“The Spirit of the Bush competition gives us a wonderful window into rural and regional Australia,” Mr Warlters said.
“It shows us the people, landscapes, challenges and the moments of joy that make life in the bush so unique.
“These photographs tell stories that deserve to be seen and celebrated.
“They remind us of the strength, resilience, humour and connection that exists across our rural communities, and help share those stories with people right across Australia.”
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