Ans Westra – Photography Exhibition
Ans Westra: Kerikeri 2025 is the first exhibition of the late Dutch-New Zealander’s photographic work in Kerikeri. Presented in conjunction with {Suite}, the agent for the Ans Westra Estate, the exhibition includes 25 images made in Te Tai Tokerau, alongside other well-known Westra images.
Born in Leiden, the Netherlands, Anna Jacoba (Ans) Westra CNZM (1936 – 2023) used a medium-format, waist-level viewfinder camera for most of her life. She began taking photographs in 1954 while in the Netherlands and arrived in Aotearoa, New Zealand in 1957 aged 21, to visit her father, who had earlier migrated. Ans remained here for the rest of her life.
Ans is best known for her images depicting life in New Zealand and in particular te ao Māori. From the 1960’s onwards, she spent long periods of time travelling around the country as a full-time freelance documentary photographer, working mainly for the Department of Education and Te Ao Hou, a magazine published by the Māori Affairs Department. Committed to observing and expressively documenting life and culture, her candid images capture people at work and play, old and young, rural and urban. Her photographic catalogue is now widely thought of as the photo album of the nation.
In 2014 a project commenced to digitise Ans’ vast negative archive, estimated to be 320,000 images (film plus digital). Free access to her images was extremely important to Ans and her intention to leave a legacy for this country. Her extensive digital archive is available to all, via the National Library’s website together with catalogue information about locations, dates and people portrayed in the images where known. Prints are available for sale from Ans’ estate.
The digital archive is an ongoing organic project, with new image information continually recorded and updated. It is hoped that as part of this exhibition, more people in Ans’ images may be identified.
The exhibition opens on Monday, 5 May, from 5 pm to 7 pm, and will be on display throughout the month of May.
