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Ballarat Street, Queenstown, NZ, flooded 1878

William Hart (photographer), Hart, Campbell & Co. (photography studio)1878

Te Papa

Te Papa
Wellington, New Zealand

Long before photographs were used in newspapers, William Hart took this picture of Queenstown in flood. Like so many news images of later times, it draws on the extraordinary spectacle of people boating in an urban street – and in this case, even the possibility that a ship might be about to literally steam into town. Photography was still a relative novelty, so the townsfolk were out in force to be recorded for posterity. Their presence reinforces the sense in which photography can be both witness and performance.

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  • Title: Ballarat Street, Queenstown, NZ, flooded 1878
  • Creator: William Hart (photographer), Hart, Campbell & Co. (photography studio)
  • Date Created: 1878
  • Location: Queenstown, Invercargill
  • Physical Dimensions: Plate:
  • Provenance: Purchased 1943
  • Subject Keywords: Floods, Cities & towns, Commercial streets, Stores & shops, Balconies, Ships, Mountains, Queenstown
  • Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions
  • External Link: Te Papa Collections Online
  • Medium: collodion glass negative
  • Depicted Location: Queenstown
  • Registration ID: C.014174
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