In this lunchtime talk Caroline McQuarrie will use Robina Nichol’s endearing portrait of Amy Kirk yawning as a starting point in a discussion of what it might have meant to be an amateur female photographer in the late 19th century. In a precursor to 20th century ‘snapshot’ photography we often see women turning their camera’s towards their homes, families and friends in this period. Whether through choice or restriction, these types of image often let us into an aspect of late-Victorian life otherwise kept largely private. In the 21st century we have particular understanding of the gendered gaze in photography. With this in mind we might wonder what can we ask of these images, and of this photographer? How do we locate her photographic practice now?

Caroline McQuarrie is an interdisciplinary artist based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. In her practice, she has long explored personal and familial social histories, and the role of photography and hand-crafted textiles when representing or questioning such narratives. McQuarrie is a Senior Lecturer in Photography at Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University.

Through a Contemporary Lens: Artists in response is a series of talks developed in collaboration with artist and educator Caroline McQuarrie, bringing contemporary lens-based artists in response to A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa. Across five Thursday lunchtimes, both emerging and established practitioners have been invited to share their response to particular photographs. Drawing on their own approaches, whakapapa and interests from the vantage point of the present day, these artists offer fresh and varied insights into the political, social and technological dynamics of photography and its implicit relationship to settler-colonialism in Aotearoa.