Acclaimed New Zealand photographer Marti Friedlander dies

Marti Friedlander photographed in May 2014. Photo / Dean Purcell

Marti Friedlander, one of New Zealand's most acclaimed photographers, has died.

Her Facebook account said she passed away peacefully this morning.

Friedlander, born in the East End of London to Russian Jewish immigrants in 1928, married a New Zealander Gerrard Friedlander in 1957 and emigrated to New Zealand in 1958.

She worked as a nurse before taking up photography, documenting the country she had adopted and social activisim in the post-war age. Her subject matter included portraiture, landscapes, state houses and country scenes.

In 1972 her work began to receive widespread attention when she collaboration with the historian and author Michael King on his book Moko. She regarded this project as a highlight of her career.

She gave her time to Amnesty International and the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, and in 2007 she announced that she and her husband would bequeath a substantial sum to the Arts Foundation to establish a new award for photographers.

In 1998 she was admitted as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

In October, Friedlander revealed she was suffering from breast cancer. She was 88.