Thomas Andrew (19 January 1855 – 7 August 1939) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

photographer who lived in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

from 1891 until his death in 1939. Andrew took photographs that are of significant historical and cultural value including the recording on camera of key events in Samoa's colonial era such as the

Mau movement The Mau was a non-violent movement for Samoan independence from colonial rule during the first half of the 20th century. ''Mau'' means ‘resolute’ or ‘resolved’ in the sense of ‘opinion’, ‘unwavering’, ‘to be decided’, or ...

, the volcanic eruption of

Mt Matavanu Mt Matavanu is an active volcano on the island of Savai'i in Samoa. The volcano was formed during an eruption in 1905. Lava flows from the eruption covered a large area of land in the Gaga'emauga district, leading to the relocation of several vil ...

(1905–1911) and the funeral of writer

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

. Many of his surviving images are held in the collections of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and include landscapes and studio portraits of Samoans that went beyond the colonial stereotypes of the time. Andrew was born in Takapuna, a suburb in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

on the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand. He worked as a photographer in Napier. He later opened a studio in Auckland which was destroyed by fire. In 1891, he went to Samoa where he worked with two other New Zealand photographers, Alfred John Tattersall and John Davis. He died in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

, the capital of Samoa.

Gallery

File:Seumanutafa.Pogai,High.Chief.(Matai).of.Apia, Samoa 1890-1910.jpg, Seumanutafa Pogai, a high chief ( ''matai'') of

, taken 1890-1910 File:A Manaia, son of a Samoan matai photo Andrew.Thomas.jpg, Young man dressed as a ''manaia'', son of a Samoan ''matai'', taken 1890-1910 File:Burial and grave of Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa, 1894.jpg, Burial and grave of

on Mount Vaea, Samoa, 1894 File:Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe.jpg, Exiled

n leader

Lauaki Namulauulu Mamoe Lauaki Namulau'ulu Mamoe (died 14 December 1915) (also known as Lauati) was a renowned orator chief and the first leader of the Mau, a resistance movement in Samoa during colonialism. Mamoe was exiled to Saipan in 1909. He died in 1915 as he was ...

(died 1915) File:Two men fishing from canoe, Samoa 1914.jpg, Two men in a canoe (''paopao'', ''va'a'') fishing in Samoa, c. 1914 File:Back view Samoan male tatau - photo Thomas Andrew - 1890s.jpg, Samoan male with traditional tattoo ( pe'a), taken 1890s File:Samoan tatau - tattooing circa 1895 - photo Thomas Andrew.jpg, Samoan traditional

tattooist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

(''tufuga ta tatau''), c 1895 File:Inside.Church,Niue,Thomas Andrew 1896.jpg, Interior of church building in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

, 1896. File:Thomas Andrew - Two leaf-clad women - Google Art Project.jpg, Two leaf-clad women, 1905.

References

External links

Works by Thomas Andrew
in the collection of Auckland War Memorial Museum
Works by Thomas Andrew
in the collection of the

New Zealand photographers History of Samoa Photography in Samoa 1855 births 1939 deaths People from Takapuna {{Samoa-bio-stub