item details
NameThe order of the bath
ProductionLeslie Adkin; photographer; 24 November 1917; Levin
Classificationgelatin dry plate negatives, black-and-white negatives
Materialsphotographic gelatin, sheet glass, silver, photographic plates
Materials Summarygelatin glass negative
Techniquesblack-and-white photography
DimensionsOverall: 164mm (width), 120mm (height)
Registration NumberB.022664
Credit lineGift of G. L. Adkin family estate, 1964
Overview
Leslie Adkin’s warm and gentle photograph of his wife Maud and daughter Nancy has become a classic of family photography.
Leslie Adkin
Adkin farmed near Levin and was also a self-taught scholar, with interests ranging over geology, archaeology, botany, and Maori history.He applied the same thoroughness and attention to detailwhen recording his personal life as he did to photographing his other interests. Adkin rarely took a literal snap-shot, even though his family photographs seem to epitomise the snapshot craze that developed from the turn of the century. The composition of this photograph and the way Maud holds the facecloth just out of Nancy’s reach suggest a moment carefully constructed for the camera.