Photos from the 1995 occupation of Pakaitore will go on display for the first time at the Whanganui Regional Museum this week.
Pakaitore: a photographic essay by Leigh Mitchell-Anyon opens at the museum on Friday morning - the day before the 20th anniversary of the occupation's beginning.
The 70 black-and-white prints are a selection from more than 1000 photos Mr Mitchell-Anyon took in and around Pakaitore/Moutoa Gardens in autumn 1995.
That year, Mr Mitchell-Anyon was a commercial photographer in Wanganui, as well as studying photography extramurally at Wellington Polytechnic (now Massey University). As part of his studies he was required to subject three photographic projects, and he decided he'd like to photograph the occupation.
"The people at Pakaitore had a hui on the marae every evening, so I went along and asked permission to take photos. They agreed and gave me free rein to take photos wherever I wanted."