New Zealand Photography Collected: 175 Years of Photography in Aotearoa

By Athol McCredie

Publication: November 2025
Pages: 392
Format: Hardback 
ISBN:  978-1-99-107207-8

RRP: $90

Expertly curated, and showcasing images taken between 1850 and 2025, this book is an essential reference that honours artistic legacies and explores our identity as a nation. Together these photographs tell stories about life in this country from almost the earliest days of European colonisation and about how the practice of photography has evolved here.

When it was first published in 2015, New Zealand Photography Collected was a landmark book, captivating audiences. In this fully revised and enriched edition, of the more than 400 images, almost half are new, reflecting the dynamic and increasingly diverse nature of the collection, allowing for previously unseen treasures, and enabling familiar works to be recontextualised with fresh insights.

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Awards

• Shortlisted for the NZ Booklovers Award for Best Lifestyle Book 2026. The judges said: “A landmark title that genuinely enriches everyday life, New Zealand Photography Collected invites us to slow down, look closely and see Aotearoa with fresh eyes. Expertly curated across 175 years (1850–2025), this fully revised edition is both an essential reference and a book to live with, one you’ll return to again and again. With more than 400 images, the collection balances iconic works with lesser-known pieces, reflecting the increasingly diverse story of New Zealand photography. Athol McCredie’s text adds depth and context in a uniquely accessible way, enhancing the visual experience. This book’s appeal reaches well beyond photography, art and history circles. It speaks to New Zealanders of all ages across the motu through images that capture people, places, and moments. From everyday scenes to major shifts in our national story, it provides a shared visual record of who we’ve been and who we’re becoming.”

Review highlights

• The Post extract. “McCredie observes: 'All the photographs here tell us how people thought they belonged – or were thought to belong – and where they aspired to belong. We use photography as a witness to express and declare who we are in the world.'”

• New Zealand Arts Review, by John Daly-Peoples. “From the iconic to the previously unpublished, the selection includes outstanding photographs by the Burton Brothers, Leslie Adkin, Spencer Digby, John Pascoe, Brian Brake, Frank Hofmann, Ans Westra, Eric Lee-Johnson, Marti Friedlander, Laurence Aberhart, Ann Shelton, Glenn Jowitt, Anne Noble, Yvonne Todd – and many more.”

• RNZ Nine to Noon, by David Hill. “There’s hardly an image in this book that I didn’t find impressive or intriguing.”

• Kete, selected as one of their favourites of 2025. “Over 350 images from 1850s daguerrotypes to 2025 digital shots. They cover NZ people, places, sciences, events, the nature of photography itself. They're accompanied by informative, accessible text. A visually stunning book; you'll exclaim aloud every second page.”

Author interviews

• RNZ Saturday Morning, Athol McCredie interviewed by Paddy Gower.