Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
Open every day 10am-6pm
(except Christmas Day)
Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand
These photographs are a glimpse into The Spencer Digby - Ronald D. Woolf Collection.
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He kitenga ēnei whakaahua ki The Spencer Digby - Ronald D. Woolf Collection.
Sat 4 Nov 2023 – 19 May 2024
Toi Art, Level 5
Free entry
From 1931 to 1985, Spencer Digby Studios captured the lives of Wellington’s people – from dances to dog shows, from posed portraits to spontaneous moments. Located on Lambton Quay, the popular studio was known for its specialised services and modern equipment.
This group of over 250,000 images from Spencer Digby Studios was donated to Te Papa by Ronald D. Woolf in 1975.
Over the last two years, a dedicated team of Te Papa specialists has digitised thousands of photos from The Spencer Digby - Ronald D. Woolf Collection. This project was funded by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.
For almost two years, Te Papa has been digitising the Spencer Digby / Ronald D Woolf collection of photographic negatives. Now that this stage of the project is winding down, here are some statistics and highlights from the current team members.
Photography curator Athol McCredie reflects on a famous photograph discovered in 2020 amongst our huge Spencer Digby / Ronald D. Woolf portrait collection of negatives.
In 2021, Te Papa received a grant from Lotteries NZ towards the digitisation of the Spencer Digby / Ronald D Woolf Collection of around 250,000 photographic negatives shot between the 1930s and 1980s. The project is now well underway. Athol McCredie, Curator Photography and Melissa Irving, Senior Imaging Technician tell us about the project.
Studio portraits taken in a professional photographer’s studio – often making use of backdrops or props – were for formal, posed portraits, as well as informal, candid photographs of people, and sometimes their pets.
