Through Shaded Glass: Women and Photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860–1960
Te Papa Press, Wellington 2023 NINA SEJA
A testament to both photographic history and the women's experience, Lissa Mitchell's new book is a strong contribution to the cultural history of photography. Mitchell is curator of historical photography at Te Papa Tongarewa, a role that well positions her to appreciate both the historical depth and aesthetic practices of the medium, as well as the significance of photography to our national narrative. Mitchell's use of archives reveals the nuances of life as it was lived in earlier times. Her approach also subverts any stereotypes we may have (of women as subject to restrictions and limited in agency), instead depicting those we see in black-and-white photographs as more fully human, embodied with their own humour, aspirations and tenacity.
Through Shaded Glass explores the history of women's photography in New Zealand through the nineteenth and early twentieth century, a period that has not received sustained attention in other retellings. Mitchell focuses on many forms of photographic practices, including photojournalism, portraiture, landscape, and adventure imagemaking, but she also gives space to other methods, such as the delicacy of hand-colouring.
The volume investigates not just the photographs themselves, but also the photography ecosystem and how women played an integral role in its existence as it took hold in New Zealand—for example, those working as professional photographers who ran their own commercial
