Christchurch Photo Hunt

Christchurch Photo Hunt 2025

Each year Christchurch City Libraries runs the Photo Hunt to gather photographs from across the community, along with the unique stories of their creators.

Photo Hunt 2025's theme is Building Place - evolving communities.

Entries are open from Wednesday 1 October to Friday 31 October.

Photo Hunt gives you the chance to share your photographs, both physical or digital, historical and contemporary, that show the changing and evolving places and communities we are a part of.

Here in Ōtautahi-Christchurch and Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū-Banks Peninsula we have many stories, from Ngāi Tahu and other iwi, European settlers, Pasifika and people of many ethnic and cultural backgrounds who have made this place home. If you have photos representing our physical and social development over time, contribute your photos and stories to be in to win Riverside vouchers!

How the 2025 Christchurch Photo Hunt works

Welcome to the 2025 Christchurch Photo Hunt. Here is how you can contribute your digital images to the Photo Hunt:

  1. Upload your photos to discoverywall.nz;
  2. Submit your photos through our photo hunt entry form.

There is no longer a process for dropping your photos at libraries. If you have physical photos you want to scan, you can:

  1. Come along to a Digitise Your Photos event at selected libraries during October;
  2. Scan your photos at Auahatanga | Creativity at Tūranga or at Te Hāpua Halswell Centre. Learn more about how to access the photo scanners.

Please note that bound, framed or mounted photos are unable to be scanned at the Digitise Your Photos events. This is because the scanner feeds through photos rather than being flatbed as with some other scanners. If you would like to contribute any of these types of photos please contact us directly about Photo Hunt 2025.

Each image is entered into a category of People, Places or Both (depending on what the main subject of the image is).

Entries will be made available on the Discovery Wall and discoverywall.nz and will also form a crucial part of the permanent heritage collections housed on the libraries’ digital heritage platform Canterbury Stories.

Online entry form

Submit your photos through our online entry form.

Each year Christchurch City Libraries runs the Photo Hunt to gather photographs from across the community, along with the unique stories of their creators.

Photo Hunt 2025's theme is Building Place - evolving communities.

Entries are open from Wednesday 1 October to Friday 31 October.

Photo Hunt gives you the chance to share your photographs, both physical or digital, historical and contemporary, that show the changing and evolving places and communities we are a part of.

Here in Ōtautahi-Christchurch and Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū-Banks Peninsula we have many stories, from Ngāi Tahu and other iwi, European settlers, Pasifika and people of many ethnic and cultural backgrounds who have made this place home. If you have photos representing our physical and social development over time, contribute your photos and stories to be in to win Riverside vouchers!

How the 2025 Christchurch Photo Hunt works

Welcome to the 2025 Christchurch Photo Hunt. Here is how you can contribute your digital images to the Photo Hunt:

  1. Upload your photos to discoverywall.nz;
  2. Submit your photos through our photo hunt entry form.

There is no longer a process for dropping your photos at libraries. If you have physical photos you want to scan, you can:

  1. Come along to a Digitise Your Photos event at selected libraries during October;
  2. Scan your photos at Auahatanga | Creativity at Tūranga or at Te Hāpua Halswell Centre. Learn more about how to access the photo scanners.

Please note that bound, framed or mounted photos are unable to be scanned at the Digitise Your Photos events. This is because the scanner feeds through photos rather than being flatbed as with some other scanners. If you would like to contribute any of these types of photos please contact us directly about Photo Hunt 2025.

Each image is entered into a category of People, Places or Both (depending on what the main subject of the image is).

Entries will be made available on the Discovery Wall and discoverywall.nz and will also form a crucial part of the permanent heritage collections housed on the libraries’ digital heritage platform Canterbury Stories.

Online entry form

Submit your photos through our online entry form.

Prizes

The 2025 prizes:

Christchurch Heritage Festival: 11 to 27 October 2025

Explore the interesting and fun local history events, exhibitions, and activities on at the Christchurch Heritage Festival.

Christchurch Photo Hunt 2024 - The Winners

There were 543 entries this year - and the winners include photos of tandem paragliding, a basketball team, and dragon boat racing.

Listen in

Amy talks to Digital Curation Librarian, Sarah Snelling about Christchurch Photo Hunt 2024.

3MB, 3 minutes 6 seconds

Featured

QUIZ: Christchurch Photo Hunt

Can you answer 10 local history questions that correspond to previous Photo Hunt images?

Jigger board tree event: Picturing Canterbury

Competitors in a jigger board tree wood chopping event at the Canterbury A & P Show, 2008. An image from Canterbury Stories.

Madam Butterfly's Vintage Style Boutique

Interior of vintage clothing store, Madam Butterfly's Vintage Style Boutique, 477 Ferry Road. 2019. An image from Canterbury Stories.

Central city block, sheet no. 9: Picturing Canterbury

Council of Fire and Accident Underwriters Associations of NZ 1933 plan showing buildings and business. An image from Canterbury Stories.

2025 Photo Hunt postcards

Pick up a postcard at the library. Collect the set.

Lyttelton Tunnel construction, 1960s Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-PH20-DW-127251, Charles Hurley, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 PCard-2025-01
Lyttelton Tunnel construction, 1960s. Entry by John Hurley in the 2020 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt. Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-PH20-DW-127251, Charles Hurley, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
PCard-2025-01

Construction in the Square, 1962. Entry by Ron Cone in the 2020 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt. Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-PH20-088, Ron Cone, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. PCard-2025-03
Construction in the Square, 1962. Entry by Ron Cone in the 2020 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt. Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-PH20-088, Ron Cone, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. PCard-2025-03

Crowds with planes from the Last Great Air Race: London to Christchurch, 1953. Entry by  Barbara Newcombe in the 2020 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt.Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-PH20-241, Peter Basire, In copyright. PCard-2025-04
Crowds with planes from the Last Great Air Race: London to Christchurch, 1953. Entry by Barbara Newcombe in the 2020 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt.Christchurch City Libraries, CCL-PH20-241, Peter Basire, In copyright. PCard-2025-04

Christchurch City Libraries has run a Photo Hunt since 2008. People have shared their photographic memories to help us build our collection and make sure their story is told.

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