Christchurch City Libraries to run heritage peace and conflict photo hunt

3 September 2009

The Christchurch City Libraries is inviting the public to be part of a gathering and documentation of historical photos on peace and conflict in Christchurch.

The CCL Photo Hunt 2009 will open from 14 September until 23 October and is part of the Beca Heritage Week’s ‘Doves & Defences’ celebrations.

The Library hopes to collect images of Canterbury’s involvement in peace and conflict over the years and add them to the existing online images collection. The Heritage Week ends on 26 October and CCL expects all photo entries will be on display via their website christchurchcitylibraries.com and on the Flickr, the photo-sharing website, before then.

The photo hunt is looking for war pictures; protest/dissent pictures; remembrance of people, places and incidents in the peacetime and any images related to Canterbury in its efforts in the global arena and locally, including the two world wars, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and the Vietnam War.

“The public is encouraged to rummage through their older photographs and enter the competition,” says Carolyn Robertson, Manager Libraries and Information. “We are expecting a lot of interest from people who have kept photos and documents of their family’s history and are prepared to share them with the rest of the Christchurch community.

The new acquisitions will join the existing collections of war and peace memorabilia the CCL has in its libraries and on its website.

The underlying theme of the photo hunt is Discover Christchurch in Peace and Conflict – and a range of prizes is offered for the best images in each category of the themes below:

Life at Home

• Protest/Dissention
• War Effort
• Home Defence

Away from Home

• Leaving Home
• Overseas/Away
• Arriving Home

Peace and Remembrance

• Buildings
• Natural Sites
• Memorials/Monuments
• Processions

“All entries will be displayed for the public to see. The winning images will be those that best capture the spirit of thecompetition’s themes and tell a particular story from the past, says Ms Robertson.

Images received will be carefully collated and made ready for display online at christchurchcitylibraries.com and on Flickr, the photo-sharing website.

“Our staff will take the utmost care in looking after the images as they embody the personal heritage of the owner, as well as the heritage of the Christchurch community,” says Ms Robertson. “We are also offering entrants the opportunity of getting a high-resolution scanned image of their entries at the end of the competition.”

Those entrants wanting the scanned images will have to bring their own disk or USB to take the scanned images away.

The competition closes Friday 23 October 2009. The winners will be announced Monday 2 November 2009. Enter at any Christchurch City library or see christchurchcitylibraries.com for further details.

Beca Heritage Week – Doves and Defences
14 September – 23 October 2009