{{Short description|New Zealand photographer}} {{Infobox person | name = Robin Morrison | image = Portrait of Robin Morrison.jpg | alt = | caption = Morrison in 1992 | occupation = New Zealand photographer | education = {{hlist|Massey University|Otago University|}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1944|06|16|df=yes}} | birth_place = Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|03|12|1944|06|16|df=yes}} }}
'''Robin Morrison''' (16 June 1944 – 12 March 1993) was a New Zealand documentary photographer, best known for his unpretentious portrayal of New Zealand countryside, everyday life and quirky architecture. His photos can be described as unearthing memories of his childhood in the process of exploring the place as it is now.<ref name="Art">{{cite web |url=http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues21to30/2photographersb.htm |title=Two Photographers: Robin Morrison |first1=Rhondda |last1=Bosworth |author-link1=Rhondda Bosworth |year=1981 |website=Art New Zealand|accessdate=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212205558/http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues21to30/2photographersb.htm |archive-date=12 February 2016}}</ref>
His entire collection of negatives was gifted to the Auckland War Memorial Museum in 1992, which honoured his work in the exhibitions ''Robin Morrison, Photographer'' (1997), ''A Decade of Days'' (2013–2014) and ''Robin Morrison: Road Trip'' (2023).
== Early life == [[File:Aerial view of Vauxhall Road, Devonport, 1945.jpg|thumb|left|Narrow Neck on the North Shore of Auckland in 1944]]
Morrison was born in Devonport on the North Shore of Auckland on 16 June 1944.<ref name="Newsletter"/><ref name="Biography">{{cite web |url=http://www.robinmorrison.co.nz/biography.html |title=Biography |website=robinmorrison.co.nz|accessdate=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030810231012/http://www.robinmorrison.co.nz/biography.html |archive-date=10 August 2003}}</ref> He grew up in Narrow Neck, and attended Vauxhall School.<ref name="Biography"/> His family moved to Palmerston North when he was 10,<ref name="SenseofPlace">{{citeq|Q116951980}}</ref> where he attended Freyberg High School and Massey University.<ref name="Newsletter"/> Morrison felt the need to escape Palmerston North, and moved to the South Island, attending Otago University in Dunedin, where he studied anthropology.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/><ref name="Newsletter"/><ref name="1997book">{{citeq|Q117038019|page=117-119}}</ref>
Morrison's father worked a home-portrait photographer for Christopher Bede Studios, however Morrison never took great interest in his works.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/><ref name="Biography"/>
== Career == ===Origins and the ''New Zealand Listener''===
In 1965, Morrison moved to London, inspired by a "sense of urgency and claustrophobia" caused by 1960s counterculture.<ref name="NZGeo2023">{{cite news|url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/thats-a-robin-morrison-shot/ |title="That's a Robin Morrison Shot" |date=March 2023|first=Geoff|last=Chapple |website=New Zealand Geographic |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="Biography"/> While working for the underground newspaper ''International Times'' in 1967, Morrison was asked to photograph an anti-Vietnam War demonstration, leading him to purchase his first camera, a second-hand Voigtländer.<ref name="Elsewhere">{{Cite web|title=Robin Morrison Remembered (2014): Life in the Lens|url=https://www.elsewhere.co.nz/culturalelsewhere/6262/robin-morrison-remembered-2014-life-in-the-lens/|access-date=2021-06-09|website=Elsewhere|first=Graham |last=Reid|date=9 April 2014}}</ref><ref name="Art"/><ref name="Biography"/> Even though the magazine did not use his shots, the experience of attending the demonstration and seeing the photographs develop grew Morrison's interest in photography.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/><ref name="SenseofPlace"/>
Returning home to Auckland, Morrison became a freelance photographer for the ''New Zealand Listener''. One of Morrison's first commissioned works was a greyscale photograph of Sir Edmund Hillary, which the ''Listener'' used as a cover.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/><ref name="SenseofPlace"/> Morrison developed a passion for working on photojournalism stories,<ref name="SenseofPlace"/> and in 1975 covered the diamond jubilee of the Gallipoli campaign, and visited Cromwell with journalist Louise Callan, covering the community's mixed protests and support for the Clyde Dam.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/><ref name="NZGeo2023"/> In 1978, Morrison covered the Bastion Point protests,<ref name="Herald2023">{{cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/from-the-road-photographer-robin-morrison-revisited-at-auckland-museum/WFLJWSUZIRERNO4GVJKRKCAQ7I/ |title=From the Road: Photographer Robin Morrison revisited at Auckland Museum |date=25 February 2023|first=Joanna |last=Wane |website=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> and created portrait shots for the ''Listener'' for people including Dame Whina Cooper, John A. Lee and Frank Sargeson.<ref name="Elsewhere"/>
In the mid-1970s, Morrison began producing calendars, including one of the shops of Ponsonby prior to gentrification, and returned to Cromwell to photograph the area before the construction of the Clyde Dam.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19761119.2.130 |title=Rei Hamon |newspaper=The Press |date=19 November 1976 |page=15 |via=Papers Past| access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="1997book"/> Morrison persuaded Alister Taylor to fund ''Images of a House'' (1978), his first book that focuses on Tauroa Estate, a two-storey Modernist house constructed in 1916 by architect William Gummer.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/>
=== ''From the Road'' ===
In the late 1970s, Morrison was commissioned by Air New Zealand to take promotional photographs of the South Island. While spending time in the South Island, Morrison was struck by how much of the South Island and its culture was never shown in traditionally seen photographs.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/><ref name="NZGeo2023"/> In 1979, Morrison was awarded a grant from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council to produce colour photographs of people and places of the South Island,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19790122.2.65 |title=Arts Council awards announced |newspaper=The Press |date=22 January 1979 |page=7 |via=Papers Past| access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> and had no strict plan of what he wanted to photograph.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/>
In 1979, Morrison took his family on a seven-month South Island road trip,<ref name="Herald2023"/> circling the island twice.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/> He often left his family for weeks, during which they holidayed or attended local schools.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/>
The collection received high interest from booksellers in the United Kingdom before release (originally intended for April 1980).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19791018.2.212 |title=Potential for exports seen in N.Z. books |first=Ken|last=Coates|newspaper=The Press |date=18 October 1979 |page=23 |via=Papers Past| access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> In 1981, his works were published as ''The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road''.<ref name="Herald2023"/> The book was a major commercial success, and was the first photography collection to win a New Zealand Book Award in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://countrytv.co.nz/competitions-2/south-island/ |title=The South Island Of New Zealand |website=Country TV | access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/past-winners/?year=1982 |title=Past Winners: 1982 |website=Ockham New Zealand Book Awards | access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>
Shots from ''From the Road'' were exhibited at the Auckland Art Gallery from June to August 1981,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/276706898 |title=From the road : fifty South Island photographs by Robin Morrison : Auckland City Art Gallery, June 24-August 2 1981 : an exhibition sponsored by the Auckland City Art Gallery, toured by the New Zealand Art Gallery Directors Council, sponsored by H.E. Perry Ltd. with assistance from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand |website=WorldCat | access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> and a television documentary, ''From the Road - Robin Morrison: Photo Journalist'' (1981), profiled Morrison and his works.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/from-the-road-1981 |title=From the Road - Robin Morrison: Photo Journalist |website=NZ On Screen | access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>
Morrison photographed the Paua House in Bluff as a part of the book. The house's inclusion in ''From the Road'' helped to establish the house as a tourist attraction, and made the owners Fred and Myrtle Flutey local celebrities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/passionate-about-paua/ |title=Passionate About Paua |date=July 1998|first=Gerard|last=Hindmarsh |website=New Zealand Geographic |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| issn = 0727-1239| volume = 26| issue = 2| pages = 38–43| last = Bugden| first = Emma| title = You and me and everyone we know| journal = Artlink| date = 2006}}</ref>
=== Later works === [[File:Camera, rangefinder(and accessories) (AM 2014.57-1).jpg|thumb|A Leica M6 owned by Morrison]]
In 1981, Morrison photographed the protests against the Springbok Tour.<ref name="Herald2023"/> Morrison worked on a number of projects in the 1980s including, New Zealand vineyards, and historic locations in Europe.<ref name="Biography"/> Morrison moved with his family to Sydney in 1983 for 18 months, during which he produced works photographing rural Australia.<ref name="1997book"/><ref name="Biography"/>
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.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/><ref name="1997book"/> This was published posthumously as ''A Journey'' in 1994.<ref name="NZGeo2023"/>
In 1992, Morrison donated his entire 100,000 photograph and negative collection to the Auckland War Memorial Museum.<ref name="Herald2023"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/visit/exhibitions/robin-morrison-road-trip |title=Robin Morrison: Road Trip |website=Auckland War Memorial Museum |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref> He died the following year on 12 March 1993.<ref name="Herald2023"/><ref name="Biography"/>
==Legacy==
In 1993, a television documentary, ''Sense of Place: Robin Morrison, Photographer'', was released, featuring footage of Morrison shortly before his death. ''Sense of Place'' won Best Documentary at the 1994 Film & TV Awards, and a certificate of merit at the San Francisco International Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/sense-of-place-robin-morrison-photographer-1993 |title=Sense of Place: Robin Morrison, Photographer |website=NZ On Screen |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>
The Auckland War Memorial Museum has held three exhibitions of Morrison's works. The first was ''Robin Morrison: Photographer'', held from February to April 1997, after which the exhibition travelled across the country to Christchurch, Dunedin, Timaru, Wellington and Rotorua. The exhibition was paired the with the release of a book, ''The Robin Morrison Collection''.<ref name="Newsletter">{{citeq|Q115749529}}</ref> The second exhibition, ''A Decade of Days – Auckland Through Robin Morrison's Eyes'' (2013–2014), focused on Morrison's urban photography of Auckland in the 1970s and 1980s, and elements of the exhibition were installed at Manukau Institute of Technology and Ōtara Town Centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/stories/blog/2014/robin-morrisons-work-through-contemporary-eyes |title=Robin Morrison's work through contemporary eyes |first1=Bethany |last1=Edmunds |first2=Olivia |last2=Willock |date=14 April 2014|website=Auckland War Memorial Museum |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/whats-on/exhibitions/2013/a-decade-of-days-robin-morrison |title=A Decade of Days – Auckland through Robin Morrison's eyes|website=Auckland War Memorial Museum |access-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512042810/http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/whats-on/exhibitions/2013/a-decade-of-days-robin-morrison |archive-date=12 May 2016}}</ref>
''Robin Morrison: Road Trip'', opened in March 2023, and was paired with a re-release of ''The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road''.<ref name="Newsroom">{{cite news|url=https://www.newsroom.co.nz/robin-morrison-will-now-celebrate-loneliness |title=Robin Morrison will now celebrate loneliness |date=2 March 2023|first=Steve |last=Braunias |website=Newsroom |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>
In 2009, the Auckland City Council reissued Morrison's calendar of Ponsonby shot in 1978, as a part of the Auckland Heritage Festival.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/auckland-city-harbour-news/53277/Photographic-legacy-revives-historic-Auckland |title=Robin Morrison will now celebrate loneliness |date=31 January 2009|work=Auckland City Harbour News |publisher=Stuff |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Morrison met his wife Dinah Bradley while attending Otago University.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/> The pair moved to London, where they wed in 1966.<ref name="Biography"/> Robin and Dinah returned to New Zealand after Dinah became pregnant, having their first son Jake in 1970, followed by Keir in 1972.<ref name="SenseofPlace"/><ref name="Biography"/> and bought a family home in Ponsonby in the same year.<ref name="Herald2023"/>
==Selected books== *''Images of a House'' (1978) *''The South Island of New Zealand: From the Road'' (1981) *''Reader's Digest Book of Historic Australian Towns'' (1982) *''A Sense of Place'' (1984) *''Wild Australia'' Reader's Digest (1984) *''The Wines and Vineyards of New Zealand'' (1984) text Michael Cooper *''The Historic Country Hotels of England'' (1985) text Wendy Arnold *''The Historic Hotels of London'' (1986) text Wendy Arnold *''The Irish Village'' (1986) with Christopher Fitz-Simon *''Homeplaces'' (1986) with Keri Hulme *''The English Country Town'' (1987) text Anthony Quiney *''The Historic Hotels of France'' (1988) text Wendy Arnold *''Auckland: City & Sea'' (1989) *''The Bayswater Brasserie Book of Food'' (1989) *''The Historic Hotels of Ireland'' (1989) text by Wendy Arnold *''A Land Apart: The Chatham Islands of New Zealand'' (1990) with Michael King *''The Historic Hotels of Paris'' (1990) text Wendy Arnold *''The Historic Hotels of Spain'' (1991) text Wendy Arnold *''New Zealand Architecture From Polynesian Beginnings to 1990'' (1991) text Peter Shaw *''At Home and Abroad'' (1991) *''Sydney in Black and White'' (1992) text Glenn A Baker *''Coromandel'' (1993) with Michael King *''A Journey'' (1994)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections-online/search?pht=True&k=%22Morrison%2c+Robin%2c+1944-1993%2c+photographer%22 Works by Morrison] in the collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira *[http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/search?searchTerm=robin+morrison&scope=all Works by Morrison] in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Robin}} Category:1944 births Category:1993 deaths Category:20th-century New Zealand photographers Category:Documentary photographers Category:Massey University alumni Category:New Zealand photojournalists Category:People educated at Freyberg High School Category:People from North Shore, New Zealand Category:People from Palmerston North Category:Photographers from Auckland Category:University of Otago alumni