Nau mai, haere mai.

Just days before Ans Westra died in February last year, her biographer Paul Moon asked her what it was about her photographs that reflected the character of New Zealand and New Zealanders so intimately. She replied, “Maybe it’s because I’m an outsider”.

Moon’s biography of Westra, who was born in the Netherlands and emigrated here aged just 21, is published tomorrow. In his short essay today he reflects on how the “outsider” captured that essential “New Zealandness” anyone familiar with her photography will recognise.

“She seemed consumed by the urge to document every crevice of our day-to-day lives,” Moon writes, “but in ways that often elevated ordinariness into profound poignancy. Her approach shunned artifice and visual gimmickry in favour of penetrating cultural and social exploration, leaving her photographs to simmer rather than fizz.”

The four images included with the essay demonstrate this talent – ordinary moments on the surface, but which draw the viewer in to reveal story and character in delicate, understated ways. As Moon observes, “She was able to see aspects of New Zealand most of its residents probably took for granted.”

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