The golden eye of the tuatara

The golden eye of the tuatara

Tuatara is a Māori word meaning 'peaks on the back'. The tuatara is the only living member of a large group of reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs approximately 200 million years ago.

This photograph is by Austrian photographer and naturalist Richard Sharell (1893-1986, formerly Schacherl). Sharell and his wife Lily came to New Zealand in 1939 as refugees, following the German takeover of Austria in 1938.

In New Zealand, Sharell wrote and illustrated two books on New Zealand fauna: The Tuatara, Lizards and Frogs of New Zealand (1966) and New Zealand Insects and their Story (1971). In his photographs for these books, Sharel brought art and science together, using interesting angles, lighting and extreme close-ups to create dynamic images.

The Alexander Turnbull Library’s Photographic Archive holds a large collection of Sharell’s prints, negatives and transparencies, donated by his daughter.

If you’re interested in New Zealand science and natural history, you might like to check out our digital collection, the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, to read scientific articles and see images about New Zealand.

Article about Richard Sharell by Leonard Bell – Art New Zealand website

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961

Permission of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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