Leslie Adkin’s photos brought to life in new book by Athol McCredie

The cover of Leslie Adkin: Farmer Photographer.

One day, about 50 years ago, Athol McCredie discovered photographs taken by Leslie Adkin – and he loved them so much he decided to create a book to showcase them.

McCredie was working in the darkrooms of the National Museum, now Te Papa, where he was given the job of making proof prints of Adkin’s works.

“Even though I knew nothing about Adkin, or who the people in his photographs were, I just fell in love with the images. So much so that I decided to do an exhibition of his photographs.”

Adkin, who died in 1964, was a farmer near Levin. He was also an amateur scholar, geologist, ethnologist, author and photographer. Te Papa has about 7000 of Adkin’s negatives, hundreds of colour slides, as well as photo albums and diaries

McCredie’s love for Adkin’s work kickstarted his career as a curator, but eventually, he had to move on to other things and strayed away from Adkin’s photographs.

He ended up working as a curator back at Te Papa where he was able to create several books – and eventually, he pitched a book about Adkin, titled Leslie Adkin: Farmer Photographer.

“I guess I always felt that there should be something more permanent than an exhibition.”

Once he started putting the book together, he found it difficult to choose which photos to use.

He had over 8000 images to work with and got it down to 1500 fairly quickly – but found the process of picking 131 feature photos to go in the book time-consuming.

Athol McCredie.

“I was looking for photographs that had some life in them – that grabbed me and drew me into Adkin’s world. They needed to be photographs with lasting appeal, ones you can revisit and still enjoy.”

He said the photographs also had to fit the chronological structure of the book, and work with each other on page spreads.

“It is one thing to pick a good photograph, and another to make it work with others in a book format.”

McCredie said while it was challenging having to pick between so many good photographs, he was confident he managed to include all the best ones.

It took him about nine months to create the book – and for some of those months he was spending every waking hour on it.

Now that it’s complete, McCredie was pleased with the result.

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“Book production is always a bit of a gamble. You have to hold your breath when the design files go off to the printer. I’ve had a few disheartening experiences in the past, but this book came out even better than I expected.”

And he’s had some early feedback on the book, too.

“People always seem to love Adkin’s photographs, which is why I felt he deserved a book. It is especially gratifying to hear of people who don’t know his work opening the book and falling in love with Adkin for the first time.”

Leslie Adkin: Farmer Photographer will be available from September 12.