Newdegate Machinery Field Days: Davina Hams launches photography exhibition showcasing unsung rural women

A photography exhibition showcasing the integral role women play in their rural communities will be launched at the Newdegate Machinery Field Days this year, a first for the iconic event.

The project was the brainchild of local farmer Davina Hams, who felt driven to give a voice to the often underappreciated women in her local area.

In collaboration with local farmer and photographer Greta Butcher of Greta Wolzak Photography, the idea developed into a creative project that took the form of a photography exhibition.

And with the local Field Days on the horizon, the duo thought there was no more meaningful place to launch.

Ms Hams said she wanted the project to celebrate women’s contribution to agriculture and rural Australia, and “show off” the often unseen things rural women do.

“I just look at all the women around here and they’re just amazing,” she said.

“They’re doing so many things and don’t really get much credit for all of their hard work.

“They don’t get a job title, and they’re often not really seen as farmers, despite being out in the paddock, keeping the books, helping the community, raising kids — and doing everything else under the sun.”

“I just wish all the little stuff that keeps a farm, agriculture, and small communities going were recognised and valued as much as the work of someone driving a tractor or a sprayer.”

The exhibition will be featured in the Dyson Jones Wool and Technology Pavilion, a popular feature of the event that is home to agricultural technology, wool displays and food demonstrations.

“The exhibition is just really a way of telling all the women that ‘we see you’ — we see how hard you’re working and thank goodness you are here,” Mrs Hams said.

“Nothing that happens in rural communities or in agriculture as a whole would get done without the work that women do every day.”

This year’s Field Days theme, Ag is You, focuses on agriculture being part of everyone’s everyday lives, which Mrs Hams said fit perfectly with her concept.

“Everyone in the world, but especially here, is connected to agriculture,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter where you work or whether you live on a farm or in town, everyone’s got something to do with it.”

The mother-of-three, who farms grain on her 8500ha property alongside husband, Michael, often volunteers in her community but this is the first time she has run a project of this magnitude.

“It’s been two years since I began thinking about it,” she said.

“Everyone is so busy, finding the time to do an extra thing is hard but I just felt like it did need to be done.”

This year’s Newdegate Machinery Field Days will be held September 3 and 4.