ABOUT US

Let us introduce ourselves; we are Simon Williams & Emma Westwood of Authentic As, a locally owned and operated photography company based in Dalefield, Queenstown.

We are both professional photographers and have a background knowledge of education, care and the environment.

We hold the philosophy that we exist as contributing to the kaitiaki of this place as a responsibility to the Kaitiakitanga or Tanga te Whenua.

We hold dear our commitment to sustainable practices and are continually on a path of learning to understanding the depth of commitment we need to study and contribute to, in order to validate not only our concessions to work on Conservation land but practice within sustainable tourism into the future.

We decided that through using our skills with the camera we wanted to gently shape a company with both an organic sustainability and an authentic respect for place and people in this part of the world.  

We divide our time between Life, Location and Learning Photography to achieve a balance and small business success which can remain sustainable in these challenging times.

We share our connections with community to make a difference and contribution using our cameras to facilitate social enterprise.  

We drive Landrovers, we feel this is a very comfortable yet adventurous method of exploring the South, an iconic vehicle made where Emma was born, and as we transition to EV we work on our Carbon Zero balance diligently across our entire practice.

This image we took up at Moke Lake soon after we met. It serves to remind us of the joy in starting something new and passionately caring for it.