BIO
Lissa Mitchell

I am curator of historical photography at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. I have published on New Zealand photography in multi-authored art books, such as numerous photographer entries in the book New Zealand Art at Te Papa (2018). I have also contributed journal articles on nineteenth-century landscape photographers of the colonial era. In 2015, I curated the exhibition ‘Artist in Focus: Carleton Watkins’, showcasing the museum’s collection of mammoth plate albumen prints acquired in 1888.

PROJECT
Early women photographers in New Zealand (up to 1960)
2019

Recently my research has been focused on the role of women in New Zealand photography up to 1960. I have been looking for the gaps and the underrepresented aspects of photographic history here. This work goes beyond my hours as a part-time curator in the museum. I am attempting to help broaden knowledge about photographic history in New Zealand by enriching the information about women photographers held in public collections. As well, I writing biographies and histories more inclusive of the work of more photographers.

Woman and infant, 1885-1887, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, by Joseph & Harriet Cobb, albumen silver photograph, carte-de-visite. Purchased 2017. Te Papa (O.045044).

Since 2016 I have been undertaking research towards a publication on the role women played in early photography in New Zealand. Much of this work is primary research ---discovering makers, their life details, and locating examples of their work. The goal: to enrich collections databases both at Te Papa and by sharing information with other institutions with holdings by women. The intention is to make the contribution of women more visible and available to future researchers.

An aspect of the research was included in the Radio New Zealand award-winning podcast series ‘Beyond Kate’, which explored 125 years of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. Episode six profiles nineteenth-century woman photographer, Harriet Cobb, and features myself and some of Cobb’s descendants: rnz.co.nz/* 

OUTCOME

With the generous assistance of the Peter E. Palmquist Historical Photography Research fund, I was able to travel to other parts of New Zealand to undertake research and attempt to discover more about some of the photographers. I viewed photographic collections in small museums and historical societies in the northern part of New Zealand. I was able to visit organizations run by volunteers which do not have databases, digitizing collections online and viewing material related to my research from their collections. I was also able to meet people and resolve some unanswered questions. I hope that more photographs by early women photographers will come to light.