Robin Morrison

Biography
Robin Morrison

“As a documentary photographer, Robin had a strong passion for photographing and capturing what he saw as the real New Zealand; he wanted to show what this country is really like, not just a superficial look. From his unique perspective, he showed us the landscapes, the characters, the small towns, the cities, and the changing face of New Zealand in the seventies, eighties and into the nineties. And in so doing, he created a historical record of our country, a visual platform for future generations to learn from, be inspired by and to add their chapters to the story.”

-       Jos Wheeler in ‘Capturing conflict: Robin Morrison’ by Andrea Stevens

Robin Morrison was a renowned Aotearoa New Zealand photographer best known for his unpretentious portrayal of landscapes, everyday lives and unique architecture. He had the rare gift of being able to connect with people from all walks of life; from iconic figures such as Sir Edmund Hillary, Janet Frame, and Dame Whina Cooper, to shearing gangs, Anzac Veterans, and those living on the fringes of society. 

 

In 1992, Morrison gifted his entire body of work of over 100,000 negatives and transparencies to Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum, ensuring ongoing public access to this important resource of social history and photographic art.

 

{Suite} works with The Robin Morrison Estate to manage the image archive, print sales and copyright.

 

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Biography
Robin Morrison

Robin Morrison (1944-1993) was born in Devonport in Auckland, and attended Otago University where he studied anthropology. In 1965 he moved to London, joined soon thereafter by then-fiancé Dinah Bradley.

 

In 1967, while at the underground newspaper International Times, Morrison was asked to photograph an anti-Vietnam War demonstration, leading him to buy his first camera, a second-hand Voigtländer.

 

Returning home to Auckland in 1970, Morrison freelanced for a number of publications, before becoming a staff photographer for The New Zealand Listener. One of his first works was chosen for the cover: a portrait of Sir Edmund Hillary. In the mid to late 1970s, Morrison produced three calendars: images of the Wellington suburb of Thorndon (1976), the Auckland suburb of Ponsonby (1977), where he lived, and the Clutha calendar (1979).

 

Morrison also developed a passion for photojournalism: in 1978 he covered the Takaparawhau Bastion Point occupation, and three years later, the Springbok tour protests. Images of these difficult chapters in Aotearoa’s history are some of the most powerful and poignant of the time.

 

In 1978, Morrison published his first photographic book; Images of a House, a black and white study of the then-unknown Tauroa Homestead, by architect WH Gummer.

In 1979, Morrison was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant and took his family on a seven-month South Island road trip, circling the island twice. The resulting publication, The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road was a critical and commercial success; in 1982 it became the first photographic book to win a New Zealand Book Award.

 

Over the following decade, Morrison produced over twenty more books of photography, including: A Sense of Place (1984); Homeplaces (1986) with Keri Hulme; Auckland: City & Sea (1989); A Land Apart: The Chatham Islands of New Zealand (1990) with Michael King; At Home and Abroad (1991); and Sydney in Black and White (1992).

 

After learning of a terminal cancer diagnosis, Morrison undertook his last major tour, photographing the Far North of New Zealand with Laurence Aberhart in October 1992. The work was published posthumously as A Journey (1994).

 

Before his death, Morrison gifted his entire body of work of over 100,000 negatives and transparencies to Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum. A television documentary, Sense of Place: Robin Morrison, Photographer, featured interviews and footage of Morrison shortly before his death. Sense of Place won Best Documentary at the 1994 Film & TV Awards.

 

Robin and Dinah are survived by their sons, Jake and Keir.

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