Award-winning photographer and avid gem hunter Tanya, a former participant at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Wangaratta, has spent years exploring the lush yet rugged terrain of Northeast Victoria. She knows the land intimately – country shaped by bushfires, droughts and time.
“The answers are out there, you just have to seek them,” she says.
She rarely goes anywhere without her camera. Whether she’s deep in the bush gem hunting or simply walking through town, she’s always ready.
Through her camera, Tanya slows the world down.
“There are moments when something amazing happens and I wish I could capture it. It doesn’t matter what it is, I just want to hold onto that moment.”
Her work has not only earned her first prize awards, but she has also used her captures to raise vital funds for wildlife rescue and cancer research through fundraising calendars supporting Peechelba Wildlife Rescue Shelter near Wangaratta and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
But Tanya’s connection to nature runs deeper than photography.
For more than a decade, she has been gem hunting in Eldorado, near Beechworth, searching creek beds for citrine, smoky quartz and amethysts. It’s a skill passed down from her godfather, an award-winning gem cutter whose work is on display at the Melbourne Museum. These days, she laughs that she’s “pretty sure she’s outdone him.”
She transforms her finds into handcrafted jewellery, shaping raw stones into something lasting and beautiful.
It’s a process that mirrors her own journey.
Treasures Unearthed: A glimpse of Tanya’s stunning gem discoveries and creations.
Tanya’s Road to Recovery
In February 2025, after the sudden death of a close friend and a traumatic event, Tanya reached out to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Wangaratta.
“I could not sleep. I could not eat. I couldn’t do anything.”
When panic attacks, intense self-blame and isolation had taken hold, Tanya leaned into her one-on-one peer support with Eden, her dedicated peer navigator.
“Tanya came to us in high emotional distress,” Eden explains. “She was caught in cycles of negative and berating self-talk. Much of our work focused on self-compassion: reframing the stories she told herself and reminding her it’s safe to feel, even when emotions are heavy.”
Peer navigators are team members with lived experience of mental health challenges who walk alongside participants, offering understanding, guidance and practical strategies grounded in their own journeys.
Peer Support in Action: Eden and Tanya connect during a session at the Local Service in Wangaratta.
“Having lost loved ones at a young age, I understand how complicated grief can be,” Eden reflects. “We focused on acknowledging those overwhelming emotions and reminding ourselves that it’s okay — even necessary — to feel them.”
Encouraged to reconnect with community, Tanya began regularly visiting an old friend in Harrietville. Slowly, life started to expand again.
“The peer space is special. It’s humans relating to human experiences and exploring them together,” Eden says. “I especially love witnessing women realise how capable they are of creating change in their own lives.”
Today, Tanya describes herself as “over the hump.”
“I’m better now, much better. I want people to recognise the signs and not be afraid to seek support. Don’t wait until you hit breaking point.”
In honour of her friend and family she has lost to mental health challenges, Tanya created a calendar pairing her photography with reflections from her recovery journey, raising $1,000 for the Local.
Tanya proudly holds her sold-out mental health awareness calendar.
Eden sporting one of her favorite pieces by Tanya while they show off the calendar.
Tanya spending time with Eden in one of her favourite spots at the Local Service in Wangaratta.
“I’ve had two male suicides in my family — my cousin and my uncle,” she says quietly. “They didn’t feel heard. Men often think if they open up, they’ll be seen as weak. But we’re all human. That needs to change.”
At their final session, Eden purchased and wore a pair of Tanya’s handmade earrings — clear quartz crystals Tanya had mined and polished herself.
For Tanya, healing hasn’t meant erasing the past. It has meant recognising struggle as part of life, allowing others to walk beside her, and building trust in her ability to face difficult emotions when they arise.
“Tanya embodied that work,” Eden says. “Growth doesn’t just happen within the four walls of a session — it happens in the choices people carry into their everyday lives. That’s where it becomes sustainable.”
Like the landscapes she photographs — shaped by fire, flood and time — Tanya’s story is defined by resilience through adversity.
“Nature regenerates itself,” she reflects. “And so can we.”