Wellington. From Catholic cemetery

This extract originally appeared in New Zealand Photography Collected: 175 Years of Photography in Aotearoa (Te Papa Press, 2025) on page 95.

"Nineteenth-century albums are full of city panoramas, taken from clock towers in flat cities like Christchurch, or from the vantage point of an overlooking hill. For those who had experienced a town’s quick transformation from muddy frontier settlement to substantial centre, these expansive views of buildings and paved streets must have prompted feelings of wonder and civic pride. In this Wellington scene, the hilltop cemetery provides an aesthetic contrast to the buildings, harbour and hills beyond. In fact, the foreground partially obscures the clearer view of the city the photographer could have gained by climbing to the top of the knoll. Getting the cross prominently in the scene to make a pleasing composition was obviously more important than a solely documentary goal."