In 1907, Henry Winkelmann joined an expedition to capture an image of a solar eclipse. The result was a remarkable feat that not only framed an elusive cosmic phenomenon, but also a playful glimpse at life behind-the-lens when photography was still a relatively rare and formal occasion.
Blog by Anna-Sophie Camp for the IDEA project. Anna-Sophie is now Collection Technician, Natural Sciences.
On a fine day on Flint Island (Kiribati), a remarkable forty-foot tall camera could be spied towering over a neighbouring camp, photographed by Henry Winkelmann in 1907. He had accompanied the Anglo-Australasian expedition launched from New Zealand by F.K. McClean, to capture the solar eclipse on January 3rd 1908. They worked adjacently to an American team from the Lick Observatory, who had arrived a fortnight earlier to prepare their extensive range of equipment.
The 40ft (12.2m) camera in the American camp.
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira. PH-NEG-2937
The structure raising the 40ft (12.2m) camera consisted of double scaffolding: one inside to support the camera alone, housed by another external scaffolding for the operator, minimising vibration and reducing risk of accidents. A canvas tube led to a lens six inches (15cm) in diameter, ready to project the image. The eclipse would only last a crucial 4 minutes, 6 seconds.
These images are part of Auckland Museum’s Henry Winkelmann photography collection, and were rediscovered while digitising the photonegative glass plates, as part of the Improved Documentation Enhanced Access (IDEA) project. The total solar eclipse itself was described as an awe-inspiring, soul-shuddering experience: the semi-darkness began to make itself felt, a hush settled as birds went to roost; until during totality, flumes of light issued from the edges of the hidden sun, and Venus and Mercury shone out most brilliantly on either side of the eclipse.
The sight was very wonderful, and staggering to the mind and heart.
Rev. F.W. Walker
The collection at Auckland Museum spans Henry Winkelmann’s lifetime. In 1878, he immigrated to New Zealand at the age of 18 from England, and it took over a decade for his interest in photography to flourish. As his skills and equipment evolved, he eventually embarked on intrepid journeys to the Pacific Islands.
It was less frequent to find him in front of the lens than behind it, but of the photonegative slides digitised during the IDEA Project, occasional gems featured the photographer himself. Of the many significant group photos taken during his time with the New Zealand Parliamentary excursion in 1903, one in particular showed the team of photographers accompanying the tour.
Memoirs written by Charles Edwin Major, who was a party member on that tour, mentioned the Samoa leg of the journey. He sought to visit the former residence of Robert Louis Stevenson at Vailima (“five streams”), at the hilltop where he is buried. Only Winkelmann accompanied him, who he described as a “very companionable and interesting man.” Such a description was well illustrated much later, amongst the subsequent negatives from Winkelmann’s journey to Flint Island in 1907-1908. The most delightful image featured Winkelmann sitting cross-legged in an air vent, surrounded by three of his companions, aboard the Union Steamship Taviuni. With his tie flapping wildly, blurred with motion over his shoulder, the image exudes a calm playfulness which is less frequently seen amongst the more formal style of photos of that time.
While most of his photographs followed the unique experiences of the rest of the party, they did also include a group photo, where he is depicted as a key part of the expedition, together striving to document the solar eclipse.
Henry Winkelmann’s photonegative plates are celebrated as time capsules, recognised in the UNESCO Memory of the World collections, due to their accuracy, unique content and research potential.