Ans
Westra

Ans Westra's truly remarkable career spans over 50 years, awarded an Arts Foundation Icon Award in 2007, Ans is one of New Zealand's most celebrated photographers.

Photographic commentator Peter Turner:
"I think Ans Westra has a message for us. Not always comfortable, but consistently powerful. I think it's a statement of love, exploration and adventure. Most of all it is a tale of commitment and expectation to a nation and a medium which can express that belief in worth and human dignity... she pictures what she has seen and trusts us to believe her."

Born in 1936 in Leiden, Holland, it was her stepfather's camera and the Family of Man exhibition that sparked Ans' early interest in photography. "I found I had an affinity with photography, she says, I could express more with it than with anything else." In 1953 she moved to Rotterdam and studied at the Industrieschool voor Meisjes. Ans traveled to New Zealand after graduation in 1957 with a Diploma in Arts and Craft Teaching.
Known particularly for her photographs of Maori, when Ans arrived in NZ she remembers that there wasn't a lot of real documentation being done. "I was wanting to observe life as it happened, without interrupting it as much as possible." Much of her earlier work was produced for publications such as the Department of Maori Affairs journal Te Ao Hou and various journals and bulletins published by the School Publications Branch of the Department of Education. She has also produced four major photographic books.

Her first international recognition came in 1960 when she won a prize from the UK Photography Magazine for her work entitled Assignment No.2, 1962. In the mid-1980s her contribution to the development of social documentary photography was acknowledged in the exhibition Witness to Change (1985), where her work represented the 1960s.

After decades of working predominantly in black and white, Ans has found a passion for colour. Ans' Pleasure Garden Series encapsulates the essence of her ability to capture life. "Nature - its beauty and constantly changing qualities enable it to be a constant source of inspiration for the photographer."

"Within the square is a meditative, self contained, peaceful composition, also I started to play with the conscious use of colour, I became interested in the way colour influences people and its ability to convey emotions. It is exciting to get so involved with the colours of nature and to see the harmony there. I notice the abundance of yellow in springtime for instance and I wonder about the meaning of this. What is the function of colour to the plants themselves. The images became compositions in a dominant colour. Creating them from what nature gives me is very satisfying and good for my soul."

Ans Westra's Handboek exhibition toured throughout New Zealand for two years and the collection was placed in its entirety in 2008 to a private collection.

In 2008 Ans undertook the project of photographing the Muslim community for the book, The Crescent Moon. The photographs were exhibited in PATAKA, Wellington in April 2009.