Artwork Information

Marti Friedlander's 1958 emigration from London to Henderson in West Auckland was an unexpected shock: 'The transition from city life, to a suburban and rural existence was a revelation that I was hardly prepared for, and I didn't like it one bit.' As a student at Camberwell School of Art she met many English artists and while she did not plan to establish herself as a photographer in New Zealand, Friedlander's absorption in both visual and literary art gave her the confidence to record creative New Zealanders. With writer Dick Scott, she documented the nascent wine industry and then looked at how agriculture determined New Zealand's way of life. Families of all faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds fascinated her. The 1972 book, Moko: The Art of Māori Tattooing, with text by Michael King, celebrates the traditional art of tā moko as seen in the faces of Māori kuia. Friedlander's sensitivity to how life is experienced by others has meant that the people in her photographs are not differentiated in a hierarchical manner. The farmer, the artist, the Tokelauan fisher, all have equal individuality and personal integrity. Her images are instantly recognisable to New Zealanders as being emblems of local life. (from The Guide, 2001)