Between skin & shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding
This exhibition is closed.
26 May to 29 October 2022 | National Library Gallery, Ground floor
Mon to Fri – 9am to 5pm | Sat – 9am to 1pm
Free entry
The photographic portraits William Harding took in his Whanganui studio from the 1850s to the 1880s come to us with such startling immediacy that we find ourselves looking, it seems, at someone we might know.
‘Between Skin & Shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding’ is travelling
If you missed Between Skin & Shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding at the National Library here's your chance to see it if you are in Whanganui.
On at Whanganui Regional Museum, 1 July 2023 to February 2024.
Explore ‘Between skin & shirt’ online
Explore the world of William Harding at the Alexander Turnbull Library.
This online exhibition was created to accompany the exhibition of William Harding portraits held at the Library from 26 May to 29 October 2022.
Online exhibition — ‘Between skin & shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding’
Looking at Harding’s portraits
French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson said that ‘The most difficult thing … is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt’. William Harding achieves just that.
Harding diligently applied his art to reveal the person behind the formality of appearances. In the setting of his studio, his subjects are luminous.
The portraits in this exhibition have been selected from the nationally significant Harding collection of over 6,500 glass-plate negatives held by the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Find yourself in the Harding collection
Take a selfie and find out who you most resemble from the William Harding collection!
The exhibition includes a digital display of all the portraits which give the exhibition a dynamic, sculptural dimension. Visitors can take a selfie and their face will be matched with one in the collection, which will then appear on a 3-metre-high hanging screen.
Unidentified woman, by William James Harding, 1870 to 1889. Ref: 1/4-007382-G. Alexander Turnbull Library.
Read about ‘Between Skin & Shirt’
‘Between skin & shirt’ events
Events held as part of 'Between skin & shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding' exhibition.
Between skin & shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding events
‘Between skin & shirt’ in the media
Art Blart — Dr Marcus Bunyan
Wellington exhibition features work of 1800s Whanganui photographer William Harding — Whanganui Chronicle
Digital dimension sure to delight at new portrait exhibition — National Library media release
Supporters
‘Between skin & shirt: The photographic portraits of William Harding’ is proudly sponsored by the Turnbull Endowment Trust, Te Puna Foundation and Stout Trust.
