Diver J Feldt and crew, Mangahao hydroelectric scheme

item details

NameDiver J Feldt and crew, Mangahao hydroelectric scheme

ProductionLeslie Adkin; photographer; 6 September 1923; Shannon

Classificationgelatin dry plate negatives, black-and-white negatives

Materialsphotographic gelatin, sheet glass, silver, photographic plates

Materials Summarygelatin glass negative

Techniquesblack-and-white photography

DimensionsOverall: 120mm (width), 164mm (height)

Registration NumberB.022990

Credit lineGift of G. L. Adkin family estate, 1964

Overview

Four men from the project - one is wearing a full diving suit.

This extract originally appeared in New Zealand Photography Collected: 175 Years of Photography in Aotearoa (Te Papa Press, 2025).

Levin farmer, photographer, amateur geologist and ethnologist Leslie Adkin became obsessed with the early 1920s Mangahao hydro scheme built in the Tararua Range behind Shannon. He photographed every aspect of the construction of this ambitious and complex scheme, which drew water from small rivers high in the hills down through 4.8 kilometres of tunnels and penstocks via three reservoirs to the powerhouse. Adkin was more interested in recording the engineering works than the men who laboured to build them, but this photograph is one engaging exception. The face of the diver looks rather glum at the prospect of being lowered into the water — echoed by his depressed-looking posture due to the heavy diving suit. The gang who will be pumping him air and handling the rope are very chirpy by contrast. It would be the diver who requested some prints from Adkin though, not the other three, and this is why we know his name.