Our Land in Colour *Ockham 2024 Longlist*

A breathtaking collection of 200 photographs expertly colourised by Aotearoa New Zealand's premier colourist, Brendan Graham, with commentary from award-winning historian Jock Phillips ONZM Our Land in Colour celebrates the rich story of Aotearoa through the restoration of images never before seen in colour. Two hundred images have been meticulously colourised, opening a window back in time with remarkable detail. Aotearoa New Zealand from 1860 to 1960 was a world of black and white. It was a time when communities were isolated, made their lives from the land and lived an identity forged by the outdoors. Our Land in Colour is the way New Zealanders experienced life for a century before colour photography became prevalent, before large-scale urbanisation, and before the arrival of television and jet-airliners changed the nation forever. From how the people adapted to the environment and the way they had to feed, clothe, house and transport themselves across an at times inhospitable land, to how they banded together with a spirit that would become famously Kiwi - each image in this 400-page book is a reminder of who we were and where we've come from.