Photographing Taranaki

William Andrew Collis took many photographs that recorded the early growth of New Plymouth and the wider Taranaki region. This image depicts Lower Brougham Street in the early 1880s with the Masonic Hotel visible on the left and the W. R. King Building on the right. Several horse and carts are pictured on the road and a group of men stand outside the drapery store on the Devon Street corner.

Collis was born in Fiji in 1853, the son of Wesleyan missionary parents. In 1869, at 16 years of age, he began his training with Hartley Webster, a prominent commercial photographer. Collis worked as a professional photographer, his images including subjects such as child studies, weddings, family groups and scenic views. He also produced a large series of photographs focusing on Parihaka, spanning from 1880 – including the sacking of the pā in 1881 – through to the homecoming of the last prisoners on 12 July 1898.