Brooklyn War Memorial, Wellington
One of the topics we’ll be exploring in the upcoming 20th Century History exhibition will be the impact of First World War deaths on New Zealand society.
More than 18,000 New Zealand soldiers died overseas during the war, but very few of their bodies came back, so the way in which their sacrifice was memorialised was very important for their family and friends back home. All over New Zealand, communities responded by building memorials to their local dead: more than 500 statues, obelisks, arches, civic buildings, and other monuments were dedicated to their memory.
We’d like to commemorate the spirit behind these memorials by asking communities of today to photograph their local World War One memorials. We will then present these photos – as a large-scale slideshow – in the 20th Century History exhibition.
If you’d like to contribute a photograph of your local World War One memorial to the exhibition, it’s easy.
To make the memorials look their best, the images need to be high-resolution (the minimum is 1024×768 pixels; more would be even better), in portrait format, preferably on their own, without people (though you’re welcome to send us lots of other kinds of shots as well). The photo above is an example of what we’re looking for. You can find your local memorials listed on nzhistory.net’s Memorials Register. And if you know of a World War One memorial that’s not on the register, please let us know.
We’ve created a group dedicated to the World War One Memorial Project on the photo website Flickr. More information about the Project can be found there, along with other examples of the kind of images we’re looking for. You can post your photos on the site and tell us about your experience of taking them. The forums attached to this Flickr group can be used to organise your photo session with other people in the area. You can also get in touch with your local RSA for information about local memorials and Anzac Day activities.
Although Anzac Day is a great time to memorialise your memorial, you can take your photo any time. At the end of April, we’ll let you know how it’s gone and what memorials (if any!) we would still like photographed.
If you have any questions about this project, post a response here, or contact us at: nzhistory@tepapa.govt.nz
EDIT: The World War One Memorial Project is now closed.
