Snapped. Kate Crombie using a Kodak Autographic folding camera to take a photograph of her sisters Elsie (left) andMargaret at Pūrākaunui,near Dunedin, about 1912. George Crombie,Dunedin. Gelatin dry plate glass negative. Purchased1999 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds.Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
Māori woman: Photo of a hand-coloured portrait of Aneta Hansard, thought to have been taken by her mother, Katarina Hansard, and lost in the fire that destroyed the Tutanekai wharenui, Owhata Marae, Rotorua, in 2003. Hiwinui Heke, 1999. 35mm colour copy photograph Private collection (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
Caption: Rowan Hill wearing his sailor suit, about 1912. Nina Hill, Fernhill. Gelatin dry plate glass negative. Gift of Mrs V Hill. Hawkes Bay Museums Trust Ruawharo Tū-ū-rangi (12049, 96362, 96469, 12042, 96333) (PHOTO: Te Papa)
Amy Harper and Dickie Steer with camera on tripod and flashbulb, 1979. Paul Anderson, Auckland. Gelatin silver print. Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Auckland Star Collection (PH-1980-8-1) (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
Children at Matahui, 1940s. Maja Blumenfeld, Auckland. 120 medium-format film negative (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
Young woman, about 1900. Florence Craig studio, Christchurch. Gelatin silver cabinet card print. Purchased 2022. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (O.048643) (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
The Elworthy–Julius wedding at Christ Church Cathedral, Christchurch, 18 April 1900. Florence Craig studio, Christchurch. Gelatin silver print. Canterbury Museum (1980.249.1) (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
Spring Cleaning. Sarah Coombridge and Christina McAllister working in the McAllister studio in Stratford in 1901. James McAllister, Stratford. Gelatin dry plate glass negative. Alexander Turnbull Library (1/1-010137-G) (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
In the Auckland Domain Wintergardens, about 1950. Lily Byttiner’s Bettina Studio, Auckland. Hand-coloured gelatin silver print. Collection of Peter Ireland, Gisborne (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
Woman – possibly Agnes Jane Reid or Florence (Nellie) Reid, Elderslie Estate, North Otago, about 1900. A focusing cloth is draped around her shoulders and she is holding the cable release to open the shutter and expose the plate with her right hand. The camera is a large-format, glass plate folding bed camera and is mounted on a tripod. Unknown photographer. Glass lantern slide. Waitaki Archive (153578) (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
May at her Alpine Home. May Kinsey outside her tent near The Hermitage, Aoraki Mount Cook, 1895. Joseph Kinsey. Gelatin silver print. Alexander Turnbull Library (PA1-q-137-30-2) (PHOTO: Te Papa Press)
A beautiful new book puts New Zealand's forgotten female photographers back in the frame. History has largely forgotten women who first took photographs, not to mention those who made it in front of the lens. Here, curator of historical photography at Te Papa Tongarewa, Lissa Mitchell's new book shines a light on women's contribution, both amateur and professional, in early photographic studios and on location. She walks Kathryn through Through Shaded Glass: Women and Photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860 -1960, from Te Papa Press.
