first to attempt coverage of all the major settlements of New Zealand in the 1860s, including a series on the Central North Island Hot Lake District which became the feature of a fine book. On the other hand The Rev. John Kinder was an accomplished artist. He used his photographs as an aide memoir to paint a wonderful series of watercolours. Ex-teacher, Josiah Martin made an extensive coverage of The South Pacific and it’s people, using his photos to illustrate slide lectures.

By the 1880s, the making of a photograph was simplified by the introduction of gelatine plates which could be used without the necessity of a portable darkroom. Up until this time, photography had virtually been the exclusive domain of the professional, with a few individuals who were rich enough to dabble in this time consuming occupation to their hearts content. Besides Lt. Governor Eyre, and the Rev. John Kinder, who have been mentioned earlier, there was Dr. Barker [Christchurch] and William T.L.Travers, a lawyer and politician [Wellington]. In 1882 there was sufficient interest in Wellington to form a Photographic Association, the first to be established in New Zealand. As the 19th century drew to a close, more and more of these Photographic Clubs and Society’s were formed throughout New Zealand. All this activity came as a result of mass marketing methods which saw cameras being manufactured that were simple to use by the general public. Furthermore, glass-plates were finally replaced with roll-film in the 1890s, liberating the restriction of using cameras that were designed solely for use on tripods. Cameras could now be small and light enough to be hand held. The age of the snapshooter had arrived!

If progress during the first 60 years of photography in New Zealand could be summarised as maintaining steady progress, the next couple of decades would witness leaps and bounds in a number of directions making 20th century photography exciting to survey and explore. Two photographers who made this photographic transition into the new century were William Beattie and Henry Winklemann, both of Auckland.

Along with this new technology, photography received a tremendous boost with newspapers and magazines finally able to print half-tone illustrations from photographs. This is best reflected in a weekly illustrated called 'The Graphic'. In order to increase subscriptions, it issued free postcards and stereoscopic views with every issue, many of which were taken by some leading photographers like F.G.Radcliffe and Arthur Schaef. This also saw the emergence of a photographic colossus in the form of Muir & Moodie, a firm that was based in Dunedin. The sign above their shop proclaimed it was the 'The Great Postcard Emporium'. This firm had agencies all over the country and provided the tourist market with books, cards and publications that were rich in their use of scenic photographs.

While the likes of Muir & Moodie have become legendary mainly because of their prodigeous use of photographs on all manner of things, from playing cards to serviette rings, others with talent were content to let themselves become absorbed into agencies such as the Government’s Department of Tourism - later renamed the National Publicity Studios. One such individual was Thomas Pringle of Wellington, who not only published some beautifully printed books of his photographs but a fine series of coloured postcards. In later years he sold his negatives to the Government where they continued to be used prominently for many years. The Turnbull Library has over 200 of his negatives.

Aiding and promoting a better understanding of photography in the community were the camera clubs which blossomed up all over the country. These were a fine breeding ground for would be photographers, some of whom went on to make a name for themselves as pictorialists, like George Chance [Dunedin], Henry Gaze [Hamilton], and Len Casbolt of Christchurch. These clubs arranged exhibitions of photographs and national competitions which lifted the photography to an art form in New Zealand. Nurturing for instance the work of Roland Searle. Searle was a bank clerk and a member of the Wellington Photographic Society for many years. Although his career as a photographer never brought him high awards or distinctions, his file of negatives is rich in fine studies which are of considerable merit for their execution and content. Some of Searle's earlier work is shown on Once Again Images.