Hidden histories - Our stories unearthed. This was the theme of this year’s heritage photo competition.
We received some outstanding entries - images of street scenes, family occasions, old buildings and homes, and Cantabrians living everyday life. Submitted photographs covered a range of eras from the 19th century all the way up to post-quake Christchurch. These are now available for all to enjoy as part of Kete Christchurch.
The judges, local photographer Doc Ross and Tim Veling Senior Lecturer in Photography at the School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, have chosen the winners in three categories 'Your People – How we lived', 'Places - Your landmarks in time' and an overall winner. They also selected several entries as Highly commended. The prize for overall winner is a Samsung tablet. The People and Places winners each receive a Kobo eReader.
Library staff from the Digital Content team also selected two Staff Pick winners.
Both judges, in selecting the winners, reflected on the poignancy that older photos of Christchurch now carry, as Doc Ross explains, "Looking through the photographs and knowing from first-hand experience that the city has to a great degree disappeared the photographs were a pleasing reminder that whilst a physical city may change the social city always remains. Looking at a series of photographs like those entered into the competition reminds us how important documenting society and our personal history is. As is the case now in Christchurch with much of the city gone it is only retrospectively that we realise this."
Tim Veling also found much that was recognisable in the submitted photos - "...looking through the entries of the Photo Hunt competition I saw aspects of myself reflected back at me. The photographs submitted depicted people I didn’t know personally and places I might not have had the privilege of seeing with my own eyes, but they all looked familiar. I guess it was a moment of recognition that we are all shaped by the culture and community that surrounds us. In a broad sense, we are all family."
Winners
Overall winner
Entry by Isabel Tweedy - Victoria Square by Night, 1959.
Judge's comments: "...photographically it was well seen and composed, an aesthetically pleasing picture to look at, but when seen now many years later it becomes a stark reminder of what we once had and perhaps also an indicator of where we can go. Seeing what is now vacant land as it once was, vibrant and life filled, that will eventually be a convention centre, should remind us how important the decisions we make now are. Obviously this was not in the mind of the photographer at the time but this is the ongoing often unrecognised power of the photograph." Doc Ross
"...I couldn’t help but think of how much has changed in Christchurch since the quakes; what is still changing and the public backlash against a proposed redevelopment of the square gardens and convention centre." Tim Veling
Places
Entry by Jill Hodgkinson, Holt family Home, 48 Horotane Valley.
Judges' comment: "photographs of the Holt Family Home...had me dreaming of summers spent by the pool in my original home of Blenheim, sunbathing and family trips to the beach. As I write this now in the middle of November, rain is pelting down outside and not even a good cup of coffee could warm me up, but looking at these photographs I see some hope for a magical shift in the weather." Tim Veling
People
Name withheld, Decorated bikes (1962-1963)
Judges' comment: "The photograph of children dressed up in costume on the way to a school play – lace curtains carefully tied up in the window behind them – made me think about my own childhood dressing up with my mother and our performing in school plays together." Tim Veling
Highly Commended
Name withheld, On Sumner Beach.
Judges' comment: "A young, newly wed soldier and wife standing on a beach had me thinking about the extraordinary sacrifices ordinary men and women made for the sake of our freedoms, and how these sacrifices continued to shape people’s lives, long after people returned home from war to loved ones and family – the physical gap between the couple is almost painful to look at in this regard."
Entries by Isabel Tweedy, Looking south along Colombo Street, 1957, and Looking North along Colombo Street, 1957.
Judges' comment: "The views looking South and North from the Christ Church Cathedral lookout resonated with me for several reasons. For one, each view depicts a Christchurch that I never knew (I moved here in 1991, age 11,) but also because it is a taken from a vantage point that no longer exists, but that rests in the consciousness of all who appreciate Christchurch’s architectural heritage and spiritual heart."
Entry by Teresa Connor, Surf champs, New Brighton, 1970s.
Staff Picks
Staff comments: "There were so many great photographs to choose from this year and we all had our favourites – because the photograph evoked memories of places no longer here, or memories of childhood, or showed people at work and play - great photographs of people on trips, at the beach, at the speedway, sunbathers, good friends, lost homes, family visits, bands and parades.
Our team chose the following images as our Staff Picks because they capture a glimpse of industrial Christchurch in the post war era, and Christchurch was a manufacturing city."
Name withheld, Beadweld Engineering, 20 Welles Street [1951]
Name withheld, Soldering a Vanguard [1949]
There are many excellent photos with associated stories - explore the full range of this year’s entries.
About the 2016 Photo Hunt
The theme was ‘Hidden Histories - Our Stories Unearthed’.
Entries were open from Saturday 1 October until 5pm Monday 31 October, and could be submitted at any of our libraries or online.
Christchurch City Libraries' Photo Hunt is part of Beca Heritage Week.
Photo Hunt categories
- Your People – How we lived
- Places - Your landmarks in time
We encouraged people to enter images of people and places that capture a moment from Canterbury's past, whether it's a building or favourite haunt, or a family gathering, stunning outfit, or beloved ancestor.
Prizes were awarded for each category.
Add a comment to: Christchurch Photo Hunt 2016 – The winners