VIEWFINDER
PHotography series by Sampford Cathie
Viewfinder is a collection of fine art photography prints capturing the history of New Zealand’s Otago region, meticulously blending heritage photographs from 1890 to 1930 with their modern-day locations.
Purchase Prints
Browse some of my favourite images from the series below, or click ‘Browse all prints’ to view the full collection.
About the Project
Drawing on a wealth of available photographs from sources including the Lakes District Museum Collection, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections and Te Papa’s Photography Collection, I’ve searched for photographs that feature prominent locations, buildings and scenes from the district, prioritising photographs that show people and industry from the early 20th century.
My objective is to breathe new life into these candid photographs from the past 100 years, and encourage people to view and share the myriad of heritage photographs and documents that are available online through these collections.
This series is a continuation of my first solo exhibition held in Auckland in 2021, Retrospection.
The process
A keen eye for detail and knowledge of the region is essential. The project requires significant reverse engineering to pinpoint where the original image was taken, pre-scouting the area with the aid of 3D mapping software.
Once the exact location of the original photograph is identified, I’ll visit the area under similar conditions and begin the process of lining up the perfect image, a process that requires numerous reference images and a lot of patience. Time of day, season, focal length, and height are all crucial factors in a successful final image.
The next challenge is to step back from the original photograph to bring in space around it - which is not always as straightforward as it sounds as trees, roads, buildings and water levels can change drastically over a century. For every completed image in the series there are many that don’t work out due to external factors that make the modern-day match impossible to achieve.
The process of digitally blending the two images prioritises maintaining the integrity of the original photograph whilst also creating an elegant blend between the old and new. My aim is to insert the old image into the new in a way that paradoxically shows both how much and how little has changed.
the artist
My name is Sampford (Sam) Cathie and I’m a photographer based in Wānaka, New Zealand that specialises in commercial and architectural photography.
In my work, the time of day, weather conditions and seasonality all play a huge part in a final image, and this has strongly influenced my personal work photographing landscapes and cities.
I’ve always had a keen interest in pushing my photography beyond simply taking nice photos. I’ve often explored how time can become a subject in an image - gaining inspiration from other artists such as John Clang’s Time series, the extremely detailed photographs produced by Gregory Crewdson, and Steven Wilkes’ Day to Night series.
In 2021 I held an exhibition titled Retrospection, retracing historic photographs of Auckland and incorporating time as a subject, delineated by a bold white square inside the image itself. I worked closely with the Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections team to find images of everyday life in Auckland and practiced blending the old and new to produce a series of fine art prints.
Since moving to Wānaka in 2021, this series has evolved into Viewfinder - the intersection between vibrant landscapes, time and precision.
Purchase Prints
Viewfinder prints are available to purchase directly from my online store below. All images are available for shipping to NZ and Australia, and printing and framing is taken care of by the fantastic team at El Framo in Ponsonby, Auckland.
Custom print sizes, international shipping and additional images may be available on request. Please contact me for any enquiries >
With special thanks to the heritage collections and supporters of the project:
Get in touch
For enquiries, commissions and custom orders, please contact me via the form below.