Mount Tarawera in Eruption, June 10, 1886, from Wairoa

The album this photograph comes from is considered one of the most significant of late 19th-century photography, containing over 180 prints by Alfred Burton and George Valentine. The images showing the destruction wrought by Tarawera are preceded by images that record the uniqueness of the thermal region before the event.

Having only photographed the area the year before, the eruption of Tarawera was a boon for Burton’s business. He embarked upon an illustrated lecture series, showing his photographs by limelight. Travelling the country, he added new images as he acquired them including photographs of paintings imagining the event. (Picturing History, 2009)

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