Auckland Museum Showcases Award-winning Nature Photographer In New Exhibition

On Thursday 7 April 2022 Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum will unveil the new exhibition Nature Boy: The Photography of Olaf Petersen. This is the first-ever exhibition dedicated solely to the work of Olaf Petersen, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most talented and understated nature photographers of the 20th century, whose work has recently been inscribed onto the UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa NZ National Register in recognition of its significance for documentary heritage.

Olaf Petersen. Ca. 1970. Late Afternoon. Auckland Museum. © Olaf Petersen Estate.

Referred to in correspondence as ‘Nature Boy’ by his friend and fellow photographer Alan Warren, award-winning photographer Olaf Petersen (1915-1994) spent a lifetime creating images of the outdoors, especially on the west coast of Auckland. Petersen was born in Swanson to a Swedish mother (also a photographer) and Danish father. Well-known out West, Petersen photographed wildlife, nature, and the local community, while professional portraits and weddings paid the bills.

Predominantly showcasing West Auckland’s landscapes, Petersen’s images often include people in the frame, crossing the boundary between nature and humanity. Seabirds and children feature on windswept sandhills and beaches, morning mists cling to trees as sunlight breaks through.

He also took photographs while tramping and camping with the Auckland University Field Club in the company of botanists, zoologists, geologists, ecologists, and archaeologists, creating an extraordinary illustrative scientific record. On these trips further afield to places all over Aotearoa, from the far north to Rakiura Stewart Island and to many offshore islands like Red Mercury, Aotea and more, Petersen documented distinctive native flora and fauna as well as the Field Club members themselves. His work could also be seen regularly in various newspapers such as the Weekly News and the NZ Herald.

Shaun Higgins, Curator Pictorial at Auckland Museum, says “Petersen’s original competition prints clearly show his ‘mid-century modern’ photographic practice and affection for the natural world.”

Petersen photographed the landscape around him for 50 years, from when he got his first camera aged 18 in 1933 until the 1980s. His career as a freelance photographer and camera artist yielded more than 50,000 images. A record of their time, they also evidence the changes that have taken place over the past 70 years and as such are significant historic documents. The images connect with global concerns around climate change and fragile ecosystems that will register strongly with current and future generations of New Zealanders. Petersen dedicated his life to documenting and protecting wilderness areas and his archive demonstrates the vital role that artists can have in bearing witness and supporting the environmental movement.

“He presents an environment that in some cases may be at risk or off-limits today, such as toheroa shellfish beds at Muriwai. Petersen’s heart was never far from the coast and many of his photographs take us to these places, especially his favourite location, Te Henga – Bethells Beach,” Shaun Higgins continues.

This exhibition shines a light on Olaf Petersen’s love and regard for the natural world. Comprising approximately 60 of Petersen’s original competition prints from the 1930s to 1980s, the images represent what Petersen considered his best work, and these often-signed prints show not only his skill with a camera, but also his darkroom printing practice. Separated into two sections, the first introduces Petersen, his West Auckland home, how he started as a photographer and his involvement with photographic societies. The second section is a thematic exploration of his non-commercial work, showcasing some of his best competition prints and focusing on Petersen’s favourite nature subjects.

Always ready with a camera at hand, Petersen’s images capture fleeting moments in time, reminding viewers of the beauty and fragility of nature. He remained in Swanson all his life and gifted his archive to Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira in 1988.

Auckland Museum’s Olaf Petersen Collection was one of the five successful 2020 nominations recognised by the UNESCO Memory of the World Aotearoa New Zealand Trust and added to the New Zealand Memory of the World Register earlier last year.

This exhibition is accompanied by a book Nature Boy: Photography of Olaf Petersen published by Auckland University Press and edited by Auckland Museum’s Catherine Hammond, Head of Documentary Heritage and Shaun Higgins, Curator Pictorial.

Nature Boy: The Photography of Olaf Petersen is free with Museum entry and opens on Thursday 7 April 2022.

NATURE BOY: THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF OLAF PETERSEN
OPENS THU 7 APR 2022 – MAR 2023
SAINSBURY HORROCKS GALLERY, LEVEL 2
Free with Museum entry

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