Artwork Information

In 1964 the Department of Education's School Publications Branch shredded 38,000 copies of Washday at the Pā, their recently-printed booklet by Ans Westra; the Māori Women's Welfare League had requested that it not be made available to school pupils, claiming that its release could exacerbate existing negative attitudes about how rural Māori lived. Westra later stated that the controversy 'clarified what I wanted to do with my photography. I wanted to record reality, to document a style of life that was changing'. Soon after arriving from Leiden in 1957, Westra had felt driven to document the changes in contemporary Māori and Pākehā society. Acknowledged for having a 'romantic' eye, Westra possesses an ability to go beyond realism in depicting how people live their lives in a day-to-day manner and has achieved an outstanding body of work that captivates with its charm while showing what is actually happening in New Zealand's post-colonial culture. Her celebration of racial diversity in the young people in her photographs is indicative of the future of a multicultural New Zealand. (from The Guide, 2001)