Alfred James Tattersall
{{Short description|New Zealand photographer}}
Alfred James Tattersall (29 March 1866 – 25 November 1951) was a New Zealand photographer,{{cite web
|url=http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/arts_of_africa_oceania_and_the_americas/zwei_schoenheiten_von_samoa_alfred_john_tattersall/objectview.aspx?collID=5&OID=5000027261
|work=The Metropolitan Museum of Art
|title=Works of Art, Photographer and Photo Source|accessdate=13 February 2009}}
who lived in Samoa for most of his life and contributed a significant collection of images of the Pacific Island country and its peoples during the colonial era.{{cite book
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OE2hwwbGS7oC&q=Thomas+Andrew+Samoa+photographer&pg=PA166
|title= Colonial Photography and Exhibitions: Representations of the Native and the Making of European Identities
|first=Anne
|last=Maxwell
|page=166
|year=2000
|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group
|isbn=0-7185-0229-9
|accessdate=13 February 2010
}}
Biography
Tattersall was born in Auckland on 29 March 1877.[https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/agent/27478 Alfred James Tattersall] Museum of New Zealand He moved to Samoa in 1886 to work as an assistant in the studio of John Davis. When Davis died in 1893 Tattersall took over his studio and negative collection.{{cite journal | author=Nordstrom A | title=Early Photography in Samoa| journal=History of Photography | volume=15 | date=1991 | issue=4| page=280| doi=10.1080/03087298.1991.10442504}} He went on to live in Samoa from 1886 to 1951, including the volatile era when Britain, Germany and the United States were vying for control of the Samoa Islands. Many of his photographs are significant in the history of Samoa and covered eras such as German Samoa (1900 - 1914) followed by the country's administration under New Zealand which saw the rise of the pro-independence Mau movement.
Tattersall went to Samoa in 1886 to be an assistant in the photography studio of British photographer, John Davis. This was the era of colonial photography in the South Pacific when the tropical landscapes and indigenous people provided 'continual fascination' for foreign photographers.{{cite web
|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2614_v125/ai_18469189/?tag=content;col1
|work=USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education)
|title=Picturing paradise: photographs of Samoan life and culture, 1875-1925
|first=Virginia-Lee
|last=Webb
|date=July 1996
|accessdate=13 February 2009}}
In 1891, another New Zealander, Thomas Andrew joined Davis and Tattersall. In the same year, Tattersall married Blanche Yandall. In 1903, Tattersall took over the business when Davis died.{{cite web
|url=http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/impa-m2591.html|work=University of Southern California |title=View of Vaea hill, Samoa, ca.1897|accessdate=13 February 2009}} Postcards were a popular part of his business which distributed the images around the world. Apart from landmark historical events, Tattersall also photographed hundreds of landscape scenery and studio portraits of Samoans posing in traditional attire.
In 1920 Tattersall was appointed as one of the three unofficial members of the new Legislative Council of Western Samoa.Lauofo Meti (2002) Samoa: The Making of the Constitution, National University of Samoa, p17 He contested the 1926 elections to the council, but was unsuccessful.[https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/SAMZ19261203.2.26 Legislative Council Elections] Samoanische Zeitung, 3 December 1926
He died in Western Samoa on 25 November 1951 at the age of 85.[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-318472821/view?partId=nla.obj-318625581#page/n121/mode/1up/ Mr. A.J. Tattersall] Pacific Islands Monthly, December 1951, p120
Gallery
File:German, British, American warships in Apia harbour, Samoa 1899.jpg|German, British and American warships in Apia harbour, 1899
File:Mau leaders and Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III in front of Mau office 1929.jpg|Mau movement leaders and Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III in front of the octagonal Mau office, 1929.
File:Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III lying in state at Vaimoso 1930 - AJ Tattersall.jpg|The death of Tupua Tamasese Lealofi III.
File:NZ police in Samoa during Mau uprising ca 1930 - AJ Tattersall.jpg|New Zealand police in Samoa, 1930.
File:Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe (standing 3rd from left with orator's staff) and other chiefs aboard German warship taking them to exile in Saipan, 2909.jpg|Samoan exiles aboard German warship taking them to Saipan, including Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe, 1909.
File:Matavanu volcanic eruption - Savai'i 1905.jpg|Volcanic eruption of Mt Matavanu on Savai'i, 1905.
File:LMS church in Samoa damaged by lava 1905 photo AJ Tattersall.jpg|A church damaged by lava on Savai'i, 1905.
File:Mulinu'u by Tattersall Studios - Samoa 1893-1949.jpg|Architecture of Samoa, traditional houses (fale) in Mulinuʻu, circa 1900s.
References
External links
- [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/691 Samoans Posed in Front of a Hut with Palm Fronds and Thatched Roof]; a photograph with biographical information about Tattersall from the World Digital Library
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Category:New Zealand photographers
Category:20th century in Samoa
Category:New Zealand expatriates in Samoa
Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Samoa