Uneasy birth for N.Z. book

Press, 2 April 1985, Page 3

Uneasy birth for N.Z. book

Warren Jacobs’ pleasure at the release yesterday of his photographic book, “The Birth of New Zealand,” was tempered by the theft of $5OOO worth of his photographic equipment. The Nikon camera he had used to shoot the 306 colour photographs in the book was stolen from his Cambridge Terrace studio about lunchtime yesterday by a man posing as a workman from the next building. The idea for the book was Mr Jacobs’. His intention in the volume was to portray life as it was lived in New Zealand last century, he said. He began taking photographs for the book about three years ago, and approached the Historic Places Trust for recommendations for photographic sites. The trust’s then publications officer, John Wilson, a historian, volunteered to provide the text to accompany the pictures. Both insist that the book is not just another “New Zealand in pictures” publication. Its aim is best summed up by the book’s sub-title: “A Nation’s Heritage.” Warren Jacobs’ plan was to trace New Zealand from the

early Polynesian era through to New Zealand’s attaining Dominion status. “I wanted to show life as it was last century. I used authentic old items but modern techniques. I wanted the photographs to look as though there were people still living in the buildings. I wanted it to look as if the people had just stepped out of the scene,” he said. This is Mr Jacobs’ fourteenth book about New Zealand. He is working on two more, one on Canterbury, one on coasts. He has worked as a photographer in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific and is the managing director of a Christchurch photographic firm. John Wilson has a master’s degree and a doctorate in history. “The Birth of New Zealand” has been named as book of the month by the Book Publishers’ Association for April. And good news for Mr Jacobs. A Riccarton camera shop later telephoned him to say that his camera had been brought in for sale by a man who, with the camera, was in the custody of the police.