Dogs in Early New Zealand Photographs

Introduction by Mike White

Publication date: April 2022
NZ RRP (incl. GST): $34.99
Extent: 160 pages
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-99-115090-5

Buy Dogs in Early New Zealand Photographs from Te Papa Store

This entertaining selection of over 100 photos of New Zealand dogs reveals some of the more curious ways in which they have appeared in photographic collections from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Dogs named Terror, Betsey Jane, Floss and Erebus appear alongside canines whose names are no longer known. The photos range from carefully staged studio portraits to New Zealand landscapes.

This book also shines a light on some significant dogs, from Scott of the Antarctic’s favourite sled dog to the talented mascot of the New Zealand Army rugby team.

The photographs take the reader across the towns and landscapes of Aotearoa New Zealand, and the text profiles many of the photographers and studios that flourished prior to the First World War. It also pays tribute to the museums and galleries that now care for these delightful collections.

Look inside Dogs in Early New Zealand Photographs

Review highlights

  • Extract featured on Kete.

  • Illustrated extract in Canvas, NZ Herald (paywalled).

  • NZ Booklovers, reviewed by Karen McMillan. “The introduction from Mike White wonderfully sets the tone for the book, capturing some of the history contained within … The different images are by turns elegant, amusing and surprising, historical, but completely relatable.”

  • NZ House & Garden, reviewed by Sharon Newey. “A whimsical book full of intriguing photographs that will delight not only dog-lovers but all New Zealanders.”

  • Your Home and Garden, by editor Fiona Hawtin. “The formal studio portraits of dogs, often with their owners, are an absolute delight.”

  • North & South, reviewed by Paul Little. “Barking mad…”

Author interviews

Lynn Freeman interviewed Mike White for RNZ Nine to Noon

About the contributor

Mike White is one of New Zealand’s best-known investigative journalists and is a life-long dog lover. For many years an award-winning senior writer at North & South, he is now a senior writer at Stuff. His previous books are How to Walk a Dog (Allen & Unwin, 2019), about life in and around a dog park, and Who Killed Scott Guy? (Allen & Unwin, 2015).

Publication date: April 2022
NZ RRP (incl. GST): $34.99
Extent: 160 pages
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-99-115090-5

Buy Dogs in Early New Zealand Photographs from Te Papa Store