While travelling the world it’s hard not to be struck by the grandeur of museums that display the history and cultural legacy of entire nations. These artefacts and treasures narrate the tales of people past. In the midst of these imposing museums, it is easy to overlook the importance and wealth of local and culturally significant everyday objects and images that resonate with us individually.
Walking through the floors of Te Papa we discover objects or stories that personally talk to us. That’s the beauty of our museum, it not only celebrates the great and precious, it also takes us on our own personal trip down memory lane. Museums also capture past activities that are becoming a rarity in today’s modern world. However, not all artefacts are easily displayed and collections of photographs are one of these.
Traditionally images were captured on canvas, paper and with the advent of photography through an engineered crystal lens. Photographs serve as a direct visual record of events, people, and culture, offering a unique window into the past that words cannot convey. Duplicating photographs enabled people to send one image to many with very little additional effort or cost.
Generations past typically shared photographs across the oceans to show loved ones their brave new world. Letters were stuffed with news, births, deaths and marriages and postcard sized photographs. Today you will see hundreds of these photographs gathering dust in second hand shops, and we all know thousands more are in attics and old suitcases all over the world. Identifying who and what can be difficult as names are faded or missing. I am sure many are consigned to the dump because no one knows/remembers who anyone is.
Lissa Mitchell, Te Papa’s curator of historical photography recognised that New Zealand women photographers were almost absent from our national conversation. Over a period of years Lissa methodically collected and researched the unacknowledged cottage and professional women photographers who captured and catalogued the lives of New Zealanders. To celebrate these pioneers of photography Te Papa Press published Women and photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860-1960.
This book, along with many other titles can be found online, at Te Papa shop and a number of bookshops throughout the country. These beautiful records are the portable parts of Te Papa. Allowing us to learn and admire our own treasures from the comfort of our living rooms. One could say they are the modern equivalent of a historical letter, celebrating Kiwi pioneers and capturing activities that may have been superseded by current technology. Much like the printed photograph itself.