Exhibition Exploring Transformative Early Photography In Aotearoa Comes To Adam Art Gallery

Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery launches its summer season with A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa. This exhibition traces the history of photography in Aotearoa New Zealand as a new technology that took hold amidst colonial nation-building. Featuring some of the rarest and earliest photographs created in Aotearoa—many on public display for the first time—this is a story about how photography became a critical part of the social fabric of this country.

Coinciding with colonial settlement of Aotearoa, the invention of photography was a new way to record and make sense of the world in a time of turbulent change. The first known photograph taken in Aotearoa was in 1848, two decades after a French inventor developed a process to capture images on metal plates. Through the second half of the 19th century, professionals and amateurs alike experimented with this new technology, setting in motion an image revolution that forever changed the way we were to see ourselves.

Drawn from the extensive collections of three major research libraries—Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Alexander Turnbull Library and Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena —these first photographs include diverse portraits. They reveal kīngi and governors, settlers and surveyors, kāinga and towns, and dramatic landscapes, illuminating a period of extraordinary upheaval and transformation.

Through examples of our earliest photographs, A Different Light explores aspects of life in early colonial New Zealand society. It also traces the advancements and proliferation of photography itself, from its beginnings as an expensive luxury for a privileged few, through to becoming a part of everyday life by the end of the 19th century.

By examining the production and reception of these photographic images, this exhibition explores the ways early photography shaped how we in Aotearoa see ourselves and our place in the world. Asking questions such as, how did these early photographs reflect Māori and Pākehā views of themselves and each other? What new interpretations of history emerge when viewing these first images in the contemporary context?

Jessica Moran, Acting Chief Librarian, Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa says, “A Different Light is a wonderful opportunity to see some of the first photographs from Aotearoa New Zealand gathered together from the collections of three major research libraries—Auckland Museum, Hocken Collections, and the Turnbull Library. Working together, and with the support of the Adam Art Gallery, we’re able to bring to light photographic taonga, including portraits of tīpuna with deep significance and the ability to connect people across time and space.”

Louise Garrett, Alexander Turnbull Library’s photographic curator explains, “This is a rare opportunity to see up close some of the Turnbull Library’s earliest photographic images, such as an 1852 daguerreotype of Wellingtonian, Edward Catchpool, who came to Wellington with his wife Ann in 1839, and later established the first steam-powered flour mill. This is just one story from this multi-layered and rich exhibition, which we are sure will provoke conversations about the significance of photographic imagery in the context of this country’s history.”

Rachel Esson, Te Pouhuaki—National Librarian, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa says, “The invention of photography was a remarkable technological event of the 19th century that had huge impacts on society and how it saw itself. This is the first time such a comprehensive survey of early photography has come together in New Zealand. The Library is pleased to be working with our partner documentary heritage institutions to present and share these photographs.”

A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa is a collaboration between Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena, and Alexander Turnbull Library. The exhibition has been co-curated by Shaun Higgins (Auckland Museum), Dr Anna Petersen (Hocken Collections), and Natalie Marshall (Alexander Turnbull Library). Prior to showing at the Adam Art Gallery in Wellington, A Different Light was on display at Auckland Museum in 2024 and will travel to Hocken Collections (Dunedin) in September 2025.

The exhibition opening alongside A Different Light is Leap to the Place of Two Pools, featuring artists Kah Bee Chow, Selina Ershadi, Kite, Sonya Lacey and James Tapsell-Kururangi, curated by Erin Robideaux Gleeson. This exhibition presents five new films commissioned by CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image by artists whose practices honour and amplify multisensorial ways of being.

Exhibition details

A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa

Curated by Shaun Higgins, Anna Petersen, and Natalie Marshall

01.02.25–15.06.25

Acollaboration between Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, the Alexander Turnbull Library, and Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hākena.

Leap to the Place of Two Pools

Kah Bee Chow, Selina Ershadi, Kite, Sonya Lacey and James Tapsell-Kururangi 
Curated by Erin Robideaux Gleeson and commissioned by CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image.

01.02.25–06.04.25

Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery

Opening hours

Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery

11 am–5 pm Tuesday–Sunday

Free entry.

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