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the larger Islands boasted a resident photographer who
not only supplied local needs but were well placed to
cash in on the fascination which the developed world
held for the people of the South Pacifi c. With the advent
of hand held cameras, missionaries were encouraged by
their Religious Orders to record their work of converting
the natives to Christianity. This rather patchy coverage
during the 19th century, gradually gave way to a more
detailed and scientifi c methodology by virtue of eth-
nographic expeditions that were mounted by various
Governments and Scientifi c Institutions.
The fi rst substantial body of work to be compiled
by a photographer in Samoa, was made by John Davis
?–1893 who as early as the 1870s was producing carte
de visite studies while holding the job of postmaster in
Apia. Following Davis’s death, Alfred John Tatterstall
acquired his negatives and continued to sell them for
years afterwards. While the pioneering work of Davis
must be acknowledged, especially the studies he made
of various Samoan customs, the title of who represented
the people of the South Pacifi c to their best advantage,
must surely fall upon the shoulders of Thomas Andrew
1855–1939.
Andrew was born in Auckland, New Zealand and
operated photographic businesses in both Napier and
Auckland. In 1886–1887 he made a tour of the South
Pacifi c on board the schooner Southerly Buster to pro-
mote trade between New Zealand and the Islands. When
his Auckland photography business burnt down in 1891,
he decided to move to Apia where he at fi rst began work
as an assistant to the incumbent Davis. Andrew went
on to extend his range of views to take in a number of
staged re-enactments relating to the way victims were
dealt with in intertribal warfare in the Fiji Islands. His
Samoan nude studies are keenly sought by collectors.
Alfred Henry Burton q.v. in 1884 made what some
describe as the fi rst organized expedition to consciously
gather together photographs of Samoa and other Islands
such as Fiji and Tonga in the Pacifi c. While his views
of villages and plantations are notable for their fi ne at-
tention to detail, a large proportion of the studio studies
which Burton had listed in his catalogue under the title
The “Camera in the Coral Islands,” were probably the
work of either Davis or Andrew.
Another New Zealand based photographer who made
a solid contribution to the documentation of the people
of the South Pacifi c was Josiah Martin 1843–1916 who
wrote extensively of his experiences when he returned
from a tour of The Friendly Islands—Tonga in 1896 in
Sharland’s New Zealand Photographer, a journal which
he edited for a number of years.
From Australia John William Lindt 1845–1926
journeyed to the New Hebrides—Vanuatu in 1889 and
backed it up with a superb series of Fijian fi re walker
studies the following year. While Charles Kerry 1858
–1928 was more an entrepreneur and publisher of
photographs, he was also a first class cameraman.
Another Australian photographer operating for Kerry
& Co. called George Bell, made a splendid postcard
series titled By Reef and Palm. Finally, Tasmanian
John Beattie 1857–1930 spent fi ve months on board the
mission steamer Southern Cross touring the Melanesian
archipelago where he amassed 1,300 plates at the turn
of the century.
While the South Pacifi c was admittedly a very idyllic
if not exotic hunting ground for photographers, their mo-
tivations for venturing forth were undoubtedly driven by
European concerns. Several nations like Great Britain,
France, the United States and Germany vied for control
of Samoa and other dependencies when Empire Building
was fashionable. No matter the motifs and its spread out
nature, Oceania was surprisingly well documented in
the 19th century.
William MainSee also: Daguerreotype; Wet collodion Positive
Processes; Itinerant Photographers; Valentine, James
and Sons; Cartesde-Visite; and Kerry, Charles.Further Reading
Blanton, Casey et al., Picturing Paradise, Florida: 1995 (exhibi-
tion catalogue).
Cato, Jack, The Story of the Camera in Australia, Melbourne:
Georgian house, 1955.
Knight, Hardwicke, Burton Brothers Photographers, Dunedin:
McIndoe, 1980.
Main, William, Auckland Through a Victorian Lens, Wellington:
Millwood, 1977.
——. Bragge’s Wellington and the Wairarapa, Wellington:
Millwood, 1974.
——. George Dobson Valentine: History of Photography, Oc-
tober 1982.
——. Maori in Focus, Wellington: Millwood, 1976.
Main, William and Turner, John B., New Zealand Photography
From the 1840s to the Present, Auckland: PhotoForum,
1993.
Maitland, Gordon, The Two Sides of the Camera Lens 19th
century photography and the indigenous people of the South
Pacifi c: Photofi le—Sydney (double issue), Spring, 1988.
New Zealand Dictionary of Bibliography, vols. 1–3 London:
Department of Internal affairs, 1990–1995.
Willis, Anne-Marie, Picturing Australia A history of photography,
Angus and Robertson, 1988.
Wood, R. Derek, The Voyage of Captain Lucas and the Da-
guerreotype to Sydney, NZ Journal of Photography August
1994, (reprinted) Daguerrean Journal, New York: 1995.NEWHALL, BEAUMONT (1908–1993)
AND NANCY (1908–1974)
Beaumont was the pre-eminent photographic historian
of the twentieth century. A pioneering author, curator,
teacher, and photographer, Newhall is universally ac-