B.

A remarkable collection of early-twentieth-century portrait postcards of anonymous New Zealanders, capturing the faces of a newly forged nation. Opening to coincide with Christchurch’s Carter Group Heritage Week (13–23 October), Facing an Era is an exhibition of 200 black and white photographic portraits of what might be called ordinary New Zealanders, taken in the first half of the twentieth century.

Inspired by an exhibition held in 2004 at London’s National Portrait Gallery, Wellington-based photographic historian and collector William Main has brought together this impressive collection of portrait postcards of anonymous New Zealanders, taken by amateur and professional photographers. While initially intended for family and friends, here they serve a very different purpose in illustrating a period when our country was beginning to move away from its colonial origins as a primary producer for mother England into a consumer society.

'On an initial examination,' Main says, 'these portraits don’t reveal very much – perhaps a tentative smile from a young woman sporting a wrist watch or an ungainly young man with dust on his shoes in a photographer’s studio. Others show people with pets, possessions and playthings. Collectively speaking, these postcards document the people who experienced two World Wars and an economic depression. Historically, they illustrate those who began to forge a nation in the South Pacific.'

William Main has written several books on New Zealand’s photographic past. Accompanying this exhibition, his latest book, Facing an Era: postcard portraits from a century ago (2006), is available in the Gallery Shop

KEN HALL

Ken Hall is Curatorial Assistant (Historical Art) at the Gallery. Extract taken from Bulletin 146 September – November 2006.