In 'Six Months in the Pacific' (1919) S Percy Smith states "The photographs in this book were the first I ever took and are generally very bad. The emulsions in the films also appear in many cases to have suffered in the heat of the tropics".
(We might consider the distortions in the photographic plane to be more closely related to the objects being captured.)
Within the text there is no other mention of image making or technical aspects of Surveying. There are a number of sketch books listed in the contents held at Auckland Museum, and these might be used to establish links between initial drawings and later productin of images.
Smith's focus is on the land from the steamer, and he is always on the look out for confirmation of underlying theoretical concerns surrounding origins and migrations. The text is a mesh of similarities drawn between Polynesian identities, a methodology based on shakey etymological analysis of information given by native informants. Attention is given to house building techniques, boat building and sailing but there is special focus on the genealogical lineages which included significant landmarks such as points of arrival and departure.
While at first the relationship between the plates and the text seem negligible, everything is about the land and in this can be seen the outline of the concern to establish migratory routes-landing at departure points.
(We might consider the distortions in the photographic plane to be more closely related to the objects being captured.)
Within the text there is no other mention of image making or technical aspects of Surveying. There are a number of sketch books listed in the contents held at Auckland Museum, and these might be used to establish links between initial drawings and later productin of images.
Smith's focus is on the land from the steamer, and he is always on the look out for confirmation of underlying theoretical concerns surrounding origins and migrations. The text is a mesh of similarities drawn between Polynesian identities, a methodology based on shakey etymological analysis of information given by native informants. Attention is given to house building techniques, boat building and sailing but there is special focus on the genealogical lineages which included significant landmarks such as points of arrival and departure.
While at first the relationship between the plates and the text seem negligible, everything is about the land and in this can be seen the outline of the concern to establish migratory routes-landing at departure points.