1928 – 2016

Marti Friedlander

She arrived as an outsider, and helped New Zealand see itself.

Born
1928
Birthplace
London, England
Died
2016
Lived
Auckland
Known for
Photographer

Verified — secondary source

Born Martha Gordon in London's Jewish East End to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents; much of her childhood was spent in a Jewish orphanage. She trained in photography in London.

She married Gerrard Friedlander in 1957 and moved with him to New Zealand in 1958. Finding the country unfamiliar and provincial, she photographed it — artists, writers, children, Māori, protest, rural communities, immigrants and politicians.

A major archive of her negatives, prints and personal papers is held by Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and is registered on the UNESCO Memory of the World New Zealand Register.

Connected