Catalogue
Catalogue
Object Type
Name/Title
Amy Harper / Belwood Studios
Primary Maker
Date
1960s-1970s
Level of Current Record
Parent
Member Object
Related Object Notes
PH2008/1
Media/Materials
Technique
Subject Category
Provenance Details
Belwood Studios
Subject Notes
Born 1900, became a skilled photographic retoucher as a teenager working for Hermann Schmidt. Purchased J C Morton's Glenmore Studios in 1922, and recruited family members into the business. She purchased the Belwood Studios in Queen Street from H C Northwood in 1928 (according to Main and Turner, in fact the Auckland Directory (1935/6), p2100 still shows Northwood as proprietor - but see Eggleton) which operated as the Amy Harper Studio until c1958. A 1932 directory entry lists her as proprietor of Rubens Studios in Queen Street. In 1942 Amy and her sister (Dickie) took over George St John Biggs' Karangahape Road studio which they operated as Belwood Studios until 1976. Their last Belwood Studio (in Papatoetoe) closed in 1979. A research paper based on taped interviews with Amy Harper and her sister Dickie Steer has been compiled by Gill Myers and is available at the Fine Arts Library, Auckland University. Foundation member NZ Professional Photographers Association. (Appears on group portrait 920.09 NEW size 2.) An advert for Belwood Studios, 165 Karangahape Road appears in a programme for Auckland Independent Theatre production "The Sorceror's Apprentice" (1972) (Ephemera Collection) and lists additional studios in Papatoetoe and Otahuhu, as does an advert in a programme for the British Drama League 1969 Festival of One Act Plays (theatre Ephemera). Unpublished essay by Gill Myers on photographers Amy Harper and Dickie Stear for History of Photography course at university of Auckland. (Typescript, spiral bound, paged 1-122) held at Auckland War Memorial Museum Library (NRAM). Listed in Wise's NZPO Directory (1925), p2460 as Mrs Ada A Harper. 1938 advertisement offers flash photography (Ephemera - Frieda Dickens - Theatre - JC Williamson - Gaieties - 1938) Obituary (Photographers' Mail v (no.9), p8. Auckland War Memorial Museum Women's Archive file H437
http://0-www.aucklandcity.govt.nz.www.elgar.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/photographers/basic_search.htm
Copyright
Collection contains multiple items - rights applied at item level
Last Update
11 May 2023
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