A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa

A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa

Exhibition and book

Auckland Museum

11 April - September 2024

Book published by Auckland University Press

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples for New Zealand Art Review here.

Reviewed by Sapeer Mayron for The Post here.

Book published by Auckland University Press. Edited by Catherine Hammond and Shaun Higgins
Hardback, 284 pages, 24.0cm x 19.0cm
ISBN: 9781869409944

rrp$65.00 Purchase online here

Studio portrait of a woman and child, 1870s.  William James Harding.  Reproduction from quarter-plate collodion silver glass negative.  Alexander Turnbull Library Collection: 1/4-007765-G. 

Step into A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa and explore the captivating evolution of photography in 19th-century New Zealand. Delve into the advances that took photography from its beginnings for an exclusive few in the mid-1800s, to being a part of daily life by the turn of the century.

Featuring precious, original photographs from Auckland Museum, Hocken Collections, and Alexander Turnbull Library, this exhibition offers a unique glimpse into our visual heritage.


This exhibition is a collaboration between Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, Alexander Turnbull Library, and Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena.