Slow Burn Ahi Tāmau: Women and Photography Māreikura Whakaahua

Lissa Mitchell

Published by Te Papa Press, February 2026
232 Pages
Limpbound
ISBN: 978-1-99-107219-1
On sale 12 February 2026
NZ$35

“Researching, collecting and writing about photography, I have often wondered where the women were.”—Lissa Mitchell

Cover photo : Anne Noble, Night Hawk. No. 7, Untitled, 1982

Slow Burn Ahi Tāmau showcases the diverse range of photography by women and non-binary artists from Aotearoa New Zealand, spanning the 1960s to today. Highlighting over 170 works by 50 artists, this major survey exhibition from Te Papa’s collections sparks a conversation between past and present – exploring themes of identity, whānau, place, and time through a feminist lens.

This companion catalogue by curator Lissa Mitchell is the key to unlocking those connections and provides an opportunity for the reader to take home colour reproductions of the works in the show.

Slow Burn builds on ten years of deeply considered research and collecting, including Mitchell’s acclaimed book Through Shaded Glass: Women and Photography in Aotearoa New Zealand 1860–1960.

“Slow Burn is the outcome of that slow building moment,” Lissa says, “it’s about the undeniable involvement and contribution of women to photography and the need to acknowledge and discuss the creativity and innovation of their work and the stories behind it.”

On their approach to curating Slow Burn, Lissa says, “I started with the photographs themselves. Curating really is a long-sustained process of looking, researching, discussing, thinking, writing and rewriting. These processes can circle around as connections form across time and place, and I like to tease these out to see if any stand up to deeper engagement.”

“I am deeply moved by many of the works and how they speak to the experiences and interests of the makers,” says Mitchell. Mitchell is committed to interrogating their own position as curator during this process: “It was important for me to explore the motivations behind my initial preferences and selections. … Slow Burn is another mark in the sand – one that I hope inspires further exhibiting and collecting as well as developing new audiences for photography.”

The associated exhibition opens Sat 28 February 2026 at Te Papa