Valentine, G.D.

A 19th Century Photographer in New Zealand.

George D. Valentine (1852–1890) arrived in NZ from Scotland in 1884 and won widespread acclaim for the artistic quality (that’s not my phrase) of his landscape photography. He is recognised as creating some of the finest images of Otukapuarangi (fountain of the clouded sky) and Te Tarata (the tattooed rock) — the celebrated Pink and White Terraces — shortly before their destruction by the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. His post-eruption landscapes are an unparalleled record of the devastation and loss.

 The black and white photograph is by George Valentine: ‘The White Terrace, Lake Rotomohana’ 1885. The others are works by Blomfield. (NB. For technical reasons I have omitted the macrons that should be shown over the O and u in Otukapuarangi).