Photographer Vonnie Cave, a woman of many talents

Friday, 11 June 2021

A recent picture of Vonnie Cave by Simon Woolf who regards Cave as one of the country’s best photographers.

Photojournalist, national smallbore rifle champion and an expert on camellias.

Those were just some of the many talents of Vonnie Cave, who died recently in Whanganui aged 93.

Although she also wrote a number of gardening books, her greatest claim to fame was photography.

Family friend and fellow photographer Simon Woolf rates Cave as one of New Zealand’s most important photographers.

Vonnie Cave won the top prize at the Photographic Society of New Zealand National Exhibition in 1975 with this image, believed to have been taken in Christchurch.

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“Vonnie was a huge presence and influence in relation to the fostering and furthering of photography in this country … she was one of our country’s greatest ever photographers and has left an important and immense legacy.”

Competitors at the 1955 North V South Island Smallbore Rifle Shooting Championship in Auckland. From left, Bert Pomeroy (Invercargill), Mrs Cora Matheson (Dunedin), Trevor Blomfield (Auckland) and Mrs Yvonne (Vonnie) Cave (Wanganui). Photo: Auckland Star Historic Collection

Technically she was brilliant with all aspects of a camera, which she combined with a great eye for composition, he says.

Cave was an Honorary Fellow of the Photographic Society of New Zealand and a prominent member of the Whanganui Camera Club.

The club, which can trace its history back to 1894, has long been influential and Woolf says much of the credit for that goes to Cave.

Simon Woolf says he will miss his old friend Vonnie Cave.

An exhibition known as the Wanganui Salon of Photography ran from 1956 to 1992 and Cave, who joined the club in the early 1960s, was a major contributor.

One of her best photos won the top prize at the Photographic Society of New Zealand (PSNZ) National Exhibition in 1975.

She won the top awards in three separate categories, with her image of a policeman talking to a woman winning the gold medal for photojournalism.

By today's standards the photo looks unremarkable, but Woolf says the composition and the lighting captured by Cave, with technology then available, made the image stand out.

Club patron and long time friend Beverley Sinclair believes the photograph was taken during a PSNZ exhibition in Christchurch.

Sinclair says Cave was always keen to learn about new technology and enjoyed mentoring others.

“She was always very generous with her knowledge.”

Cave wasn’t daunted by the arrival of computers. She bought an Apple Mac, and became an expert on Photoshop and other programmes.

Travel was another interest. She made four trips to China, looking at rhododendrons and camellias, escorted 19 tours to Western Australia to photograph wild flowers, took a campervan around America, and visited Antarctica twice.

She loved combining photos from her travels with music and was very creative, says Sinclair.

It was not only photography where Cave used her eye for detail. Along with her late husband Harry Cave –a former New Zealand cricket team captain – she created a spectacular garden called Seaview.

Woolf says he will greatly miss his lifelong friend.

“Vonnie was very straight forward and clear in her approach to all things. She was a phenomenal communicator, highly intelligent, with a great sense of humour and warmth. Vonnie was always immaculate in her own presentation, and that was also true of her photography.”

This year the Whanganui Camera Club will award the Vonnie Cave Medal as its top award.

Cave was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009 for her services to photography and horticulture. She has also had a camellia named after her.