In Ans Westra: A Life In Photography, author Paul Moon takes the reader on a journey through Ans’ life and practice. Investigating six decades' worth of photography projects that make up her archive of 300,000 photographs, this biography serves not only as a guide to understanding  Ans’ remarkable career but also her elusive character. 

I was immediately captivated by the tales of Ans’ childhood growing up in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands, which, at the age of eight, involved handing out anti-Nazi propaganda and witnessing another child run over by a tank. Moon describes her impassive demeanour while recounting these events, and as the biography unfolds we hear more about Ans’ tendency to remain at a distance. 

While Ans’ career is celebrated today, the young Dutch photographer faced numerous controversies, the most notable being her 1964 publication Washday at the Pa. These moments of cultural tension in response to Ans’ work are investigated by Moon, including the ethics of photographing cultures outside of one’s own. Can Pākehā photographers accurately represent Māori subjects? While extensively discussed, I found this question to be left rightfully unanswered by the Pākehā author. What Moon does stress, however, is the importance of Ans' photographs despite their controversy. And Ans agreed with him, acknowledging that she was the only photographer working so extensively with Māori communities at the time, she expressed an unwavering confidence in the value of her work. 

Throughout the biography, there are many references to Ans Westra being an outsider; in fact, she used this term to describe herself. Hiding behind her ever-present camera, Ans noted her ability to become invisible, and her fascination with photographing Māori, naturally deepened this feeling of being on the outside looking in. Yet Moon describes the warmth of her images, her unique talent for capturing emotions in the smallest of gestures, and occasions where she was trusted above all others to document certain families, moments, and events.

In a delicate balancing act, photography affirmed her distance from others while also bridging it. While Ans Westra may have perceived herself as an outsider, Paul Moon’s warm, inquisitive, and at times humorous insight into her unconventional life has presented her as anything but. 

DETAILS

Ans Westra: A Life in Photography by Paul Moon.  Massey University Press.  ISBN: 97819910.  Published: May 2024.  Format: Soft cover, 328 pages

IMAGE: Ans Westra: A Life in Photography by Paul Moon