Jessie Buckland at window of Beach Rd studio, Akaroa, c.1907, Buckland and Mackenzie photographs (MB1465, Ref. 2566). Macmillan Brown Library, Christchurch, New Zealand.
Jessie Buckland is one of the few women photographers to gain recognition in New Zealand. Like many other early women photographers, she was self-taught and relied on her immediate surroundings (Otago, then Banks Peninsula). Jessie and her sisters were exposed to photography by their aunt, Elizabeth Hocken, and their fine arts background saw their skills flourish during the late 19th century.
After moving to Akaroa, Jessie opened her photography studio in 1907 where she took studio portraits and free lanced at local events such as the arrival of the Terra Nova from Antarctica in 1912.
In the 1920s, she purchased a panoramic camera and produced stunning images of Banks Peninsula and various events. For instance, her image ‘Home in the evening’ captured the Newton family at the end of a day’s work and was displayed in many Akaroa homes.
Macmillan Brown Library holds many of Jessie’s stunning images in the copyprint collection, with many digitised and available on Kā Kohika.
Images in this week's Image of the Week Gallery:
Jessie Buckland at window of Beach Rd studio, Akaroa, c.1907, Buckland and Mackenzie photographs (MB1465, Ref. 2566). Macmillan Brown Library, Christchurch, New Zealand.
View this photograph in Kā Kohika- Buckland, J., 1924, Home in the evening, J. Shuttleworth and D. Wethey photographs (MB1481, Ref. 2036). Macmillan Brown Library, Christchurch, New Zealand.
View this photograph in Kā Kohika Buckland, J., 1913, HMS New Zealand in fog, Akaroa, P & E Haylock Akaroa photographs (MB1509, Ref. 1629). Macmillan Brown Library, Christchurch, New Zealand.
View this photograph in Kā Kohika- Buckland, J., 1912, Terra Nova, Akaroa, D. Harrison photographs (MB1470, Ref. 2163). Macmillan Brown Library, Christchurch, New Zealand.
View this photograph in Kā Kohika
Macmillan Brown Library - Te Puna Rakahau o Macmillan Brown
Phone: +64 3 369 4499 (extn 94499)
Email: macbrown@libr.canterbury.ac.nz
