The photography brothers

While few people would remember the names of Alfred and Walter Burton - their legacy lives on in museums.
It is because of them we have so many photos of early New Zealand, its geography and its people.
Both were born in Leicester in England to father John and mother Martha. John himself was a prominent photographer in England, patronised by Queen Victoria and the Royal family.
In 1856, Alfred came to New Zealand where he was initially employed as a printer. After spending a little time in Sydney he went back to England where he married Lydia Taylor.
Brother Walter had also recently married to Helen Jemina Draper and came to New Zealand in 1866 and set up a photography studio and then convinced his brother Alfred to join him. He needed help with the amount of work coming in. Photography was time consuming (imagine sitting still for long moments while the photo was taken rather than the split second it takes now.)
They became partners in the Grand Photographic Saloon and Gallery in Princes Street, Dunedin.
Walter concentrated on portraits but Alfred travelled extensively, especially Fiordland, the Southern Lakes and South Westland. It was no easy undertaking, all travel had to be done on horseback, carrying heavy equipment, and crossing things like rivers had its problems.
It was in 1869 that they managed to commission a type of travelling van with collapsible roof that could be used as a mobile darkroom.
The first panoramas of Dunedin were produced in 1873 from the top of Bell Hill.
They created a photo montage effect to advertise the business and included portraits of James Cook, Queen Victoria, Julius Vogel and other prominent people of the time.
But in 1877 their partnership dissolved after arguments over Walter’s heavy drinking so Walter went back to Europe hoping to learn new techniques while
Alfred took over the firm.
Walter returned to Dunedin to open a new opposing studio but he was not businessman. He drank heavily, kept his customers waiting, bungled photos and often lost his temper. In 1880 an inquest found he killed himself on May 10 by swallowing potassium cyanide - a chemical used in developing photos.
Alfred meanwhile travelled around the Pacific Islands and New Zealand taking photo after photo as he went.
In 1886, when Mt Tarawera erupted and destroyed the famous Pink and White Terraces he travelled the area to rephotograph the destruction compared to his previous photos.
There was often world wide demand for their prints.
He retired in 1898 and when his son Henry was suddenly killed after a fall from a horse, Alfred never picked up a camera again.
Thomas Muir and George Moodie, prominent photographers in their own right, who had been employed by the brothers, continued to run the Burton Brothers firm, prospering from the enormous postcard boom of the early 1900s.
Alfred died on February 2, 1914.
Walter is buried in Dunedin’s Southern Cemetery while Alfred is in the Northern Cemetery.
A huge number of their photographs have since been gifted to Te Papa and produce a photographic record of early New Zealand. Including the ones we have used here.​