Overview
This recording was created for Te Papa’s in-gallery audio tour.
Transcript:
Athol McCredie
The images in this cluster are all from the Wellington photographic studio of Spencer Digby.
From the mid-1920s up until 1960, anyone who was anybody had their photograph taken at Spencer Digby’s Lambton Quay studio.
An example is the picture of Miss Hedley, on the top right.
She wears a long white dress and white gloves, and is posed against floor-to-ceiling drapes. The photograph presents an idealised image. With her carefully styled hair and delicate bouquet of flowers, she looks every bit the silver screen star.
The studio’s artistry is on show here. Powerful studio lighting and carefully controlled shadows create a sumptuous, three-dimensional effect that was especially popularised by Hollywood photographers of movie stars. The folds in her dress and in the curtains behind her are perfectly and richly captured.
Photographs such as this show how glamour and celebrity can be carefully constructed with the help of the camera, no matter who the subject might be.
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