The board shows both "the Māori cultural part and the gang life" - two sides of her story, family and hometown which she experienced growing up.
"I wasn't trying to degrade or praise them [gangs] or make people think my family are all about that life, I just wanted to show what I see and what is happening, show my story," she said.
"I wanted to document the life I grew up in and what I observed around me all the time.
"The meaning behind my board for me was simply how one loss can impact a family's life."
While she was creating the board she wondered if some of the more gang-focused images would be "a bit too much" and didn't want it to appear like she was putting down her family's reputation, but was encouraged by her art teacher to not worry about what other people thought and show all parts of her story.
The first board in her project sets the scene of her hometown and hints about the story to come. Photo / Shaniah Smith
"She never told me I couldn't do anything, so it made me feel comfortable."
The work also addresses the loss of her uncle, who she called Dad, and the impact this had on the family.
The first board sets the scene of her hometown and the bottom image "gives a hint" of the story,
The second board features more hard-hitting images - "in everyone's eyes you can see heartache", she said.
The third board was aimed at telling people the whole of her story and experience in Wairoa.
With a generational focus, the board features members of her family of all ages.
She said when seeing the work everyone has a different understanding and opinion - some even relate to it.
But for her, creating the photography board was not only a learning process but a healing one, which dealt with the death of her uncle and the emotions that came with returning to the town she had left with her nan in 2017.
"I had a lot of built-up emotion, you can't run away from your past so in making this it was a bit of a healing process for me."
The second board shows the grave of her uncle who was a father figure in her life. Photo / Shaniah Smith
At times she found the topic difficult and thought of giving up, but her teacher could understand the story she was trying to tell and encouraged her to continue and "let it come naturally".
Aside from portraits of her grandmothers, she didn't set out with a plan or intend to shoot certain images but said during her multiple trips to Wairoa the photos of her whānau just happened unstaged.
The images are largely black and white aside from the first image of the board - her grandmother's eyes - which represent her "looking" - and images of her brother's tattoo's fade into colour in the final images.
She scored 24/24 for the board and won the NZQA 2019 Top Subject Scholar in Photography award.
Knowing her board featured the controversial topic of gangs, she said she was surprised she had won it but felt "very happy and humbled".
NZQA chief executive Dr Grant Klinkum said he congratulated Shaniah for her hard work and said it has "done her whānau, school and community proud."
The third part of the board continues her story and fades into colour in images of her brother's Wairoa tattoo. Photo / Shaniah Smith
A ceremony at Parliament to celebrate the top scholars is not being held this year due to Covid-19 but NZQA will recognise each winner's achievements as circumstances allow, Dr Klinkum said.
Photography is something Shaniah has been passionate about since she was in Year 12, when she won the Year 12 best Maori art Hawke's Bay exhibition.
"What I enjoy most about it was the fact that the things you can't really explain, you can show.
"I love how photography can make you have an open mind so you can see something through another person's eyes in a sense."
She is currently studying Māori and Global studies at the University of Otago and is doing a photography course on the side.
She is saving up for a camera of her own and hopes to pursue photography as a career in the future and continue to represent Māori culture through her art.
