Robert P. Moore (seated, left) with Philomena Lantz (centre), John
Mowlem (seated, right) and fellow members of the Tauranga Big Game Fishing Club, at Mowlem’s bach, Opo
(South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late 1920s-1930s
Silver gelatin print mounted in album, by unidentified photographer
Collection of Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries, Photo 05-317
The following report appeared in the Personal column of the Bay of Plenty Times on Monday 3 March 1930:
‘A deep-sea fishing party comprising Messrs L. McKelvie, D. J. Gibbs C. S. Brice and R. Moore of Wellington arrived by car, via Matamata to-day, and leave for Mayor Island immediately in the launch Naomi. The party expect to be out about ten days or a fortnight.’ [1]
The party returned to Tauranga on Sunday 16 March 1930:
‘Five Swordfish Captured Off Mayor Island. Many game fish seen. A party, consisting of Messrs McKelvie, C. S. Brice, D. J. Gibbs and Moore returned from Mayor Island on Sunday. They had some fine sport and captured five swordfish and report a large number of big fish on the grounds ... They are pleased with the outing and are looking forward to another holiday next year. Mr J. MowIem kindly placed the launch Virginia at the party’s disposal.’ [2]
John Mowlem was a prominent Tauranga resident who owned the oil-fired launches Naomi and Virginia; his story has previously been told by Max Avery on this blog.[3] Robert Moore, on the other hand, was a Wellington-based photographer whose niche in large panoramic views taken with a specialised Cirkut camera, together with a passion for hunting and fishing, took him all over New Zealand.[4]
Hauling swordfish onto the beach at Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua
(Mayor Island), c. late 1920s-1930s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print in wooden frame, by Robert P.
Moore
Collection of Te Ao
Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 21-1295
Robert Percy Moore was born in Christchurch, grew up in Wellington and trained as a photographer in Feilding[5] before moving to Queensland around the time of his marriage in 1914.[6] He enlisted with the 12th London Regiment and served with the Expeditionary Force briefly in France before a gunshot wound in his thigh sent him home, eventually discharged in November 1915.[7] He set up the Kitchener Studio in Brisbane and for the remainder of the war photographed soldiers, their families and training camps. By July 1919, when he captured the Peace celebrations in Sydney’s McQuarrie Street,[8] he had started using a large format Cirkut rotating panoramic camera that produced very long negatives (and prints) with a single exposure.[9]
Interior view of the Government Tourist Court at the New
Zealand and South Seas Exhibition, 1925-1926
Black-and-white silver gelatin print (248 x 1097mm), photographed by Robert P.
Moore
Collection of Alexander Turnbull Library, Ref. Pan-0468-F
In 1923 Moore was commissioned by New Zealand’s Publicity Department to take photographs for display at the British Empire Exhibition in London, and spent several months touring the central North Island with an assistant named Gurney.[10] In early 1924 he set up a studio at 88 Manners Street, Wellington, and employed a canvasser to scout for private business[11] while he toured the South Island on government contracts.[12] Wellington was his base for the next decade but, with his family still living in New South Wales, he travelled frequently back and forth across the Tasman.
Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late
1920s-1930s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print in wooden frame, attributed to
Robert P. Moore
Collection of Tauranga Museum, Ref. 0144/13
Entrepreneurial in approach, Moore appears to have used official commissions and engagements to build up a network of acquaintances, which often resulted in further private work. He took advantage of the extensive travelling involved in his Government work to offer services to local businesses, councils, townscapes, farms and property owners[13] and, judging by the frequency of debt recovery reports in Wellington’s press, it thrived, even if some of clients were not paying their bills.[14] Many of his panoramas were hung on the walls of the Government Tourist Court at the New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition in 1925 and 1926.
Opo (South-west) Bay, Tūhua (Mayor Island), c. late
1920s-1930s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print, by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Peter Alsop
In February 1927 Moore photographed receptions all over New Zealand for the Royal Visit, as well as the fishing camp of the Duke and Duchess of York on the Tongariro River and their unveiling of the Te Arawa Memorial in Rotorua’s Government Gardens.
The Camp, Te Puia o Whakaari (White Island), 30 February 1928
Silver gelatin panoramic print, by Robert P. Moore
Collection of Te Ao
Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries Photo 21-1890
He was in Tauranga at least as early as 1928 when he executed several panoramas of Tauranga landscapes and several homestead commissions, including Bureta Farm (Commander David M. Fell) and Mount View (Mrs Emma C. Bell) in Otumoetai, Trallwyn (William S. Harris) and Woodhill (Samuel Kingsbury). He also visited Whakatane and made a trip to Whakaari (White Island). In February 1933 he accompanied a cinematographer from Fox Film Corporation on a visit to ‘Mayor Island for the purpose of taking a complete sound picture of swordfishing’. [15]
Mauao and Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty, 1928
Panoramic silver gelatin print by Moore and Thompson, Rotorua
Collection of Tauranga Museum, Ref. 0132/13
Alongside the interest of their elongated form, an important selling point of Moore’s panoramas was the option of hand-colouring, skillfully carried out by his sister Evelyn Moore in Wellington – and perhaps other colourists.[16]
‘Treated by a special process of colouring, these are not ordinary photographs; they are works of art, worthy of attention, and, indeed, compelling interest from everyone who sees them’.[17]
‘Trallwyn’ homestead (William Sumpter Harris), Fifth Avenue, Tauranga,
1928
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print in wooden frame, by Robert P.
Moore
Collection of Tauranga Museum, Ref. 1047/13
Colouring was often assisted by notes recorded by Moore. For example, notes attached to the film negative of ‘Trallwyn’ homestead (see framed print above), commissioned by Tauranga retiree William S. Harris in 1928, stated:
‘Trallwyn. 1928. 1 B&W. 3 oils. Dark red roofs. Dark brown facings. Various colour roses in front of house. Put in other flowers if possible. Tree on left of Norfolk Pine has pink flowers.’[18]
Evelyn Moore lived in Wellington for her adult life and may have played a more important role in the running of her brother’s studio than the (often occupation-less listings for women) electoral roll might suggest.[19]
Model Village, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua, c. late 1920s
Hand-coloured silver gelatin panoramic print, by Robert P. Moore, Wellington
Collection of J. Paul Getty Museum, Ref. 84.XM.679.2
Between 1935 and 1941 Moore lived in Rotorua, operating the Panora Studio[20] with his former assistant James Thompson,[21] after which he returned permanently to Australia.[22] Later versions of his prints generally carry the ‘Moore & Thompson, Photo. Rotorua’ inscription.
Living room of John Mowlem’s house in Devonport Road, Tauranga, c. 1950
Silver gelatin print by an unidentified photographer
Te Ao Mārama - Tauranga
City Libraries Photo 02-338
Finally, we return to the living room in John Mowlem’s house on Devonport Road, complete with two framed prints of his friend Robert Moore’s photographs on the wall. The panorama hanging above his writing desk looks to be a view across Opo (South-west) Bay, the scene of many of their shared moments.
Robert Moore continued working as a photographer in Strathfield, Sydney, where he died in 1951. He left an enormous archive of 2,455 panoramic cellulose nitrate film negatives, taken between 1923 and 1928 during his time working for the New Zealand Tourist and Publicity Department, of tourist scenes all over New Zealand, from Auckland to Cape Kidnappers to Milford Sound. These are held at the Alexander Turnbull Library, where they have been conserved and digitized over many years, and were the subject of a touring exhibition. There are also many prints, both framed and unframed, hand-coloured and black-and-white, in other institutions and private collections around the country and abroad.
[1] “Personal [A Deep-Sea Fishing Party].”
[2] “Deap-Sea Fishing. Five Swordfish Captured Off Mayor Island.”
[3] Avery, “John Mowlem - Tauranga’s Own Big Game Hunter-Fisherman.”
[4] Marshall et al., “The Long View.”
[5] “New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010.”
[6] Newton, “Out of Sight. R. Vere Scott and R.P. Moore: Forgotten Federation-Era Panoramic Photographers.”
[7] “British Army World War I Pension Records, 1914-1920.”
[8] Moore, Peace Celebrations, Sydney, Scene In McQuarrie Street.
[9] “Cirkut (Camera).”
[10] “Untitled [Photographs Taken in the Thermal Region by Messrs Moore and Gurney].”
[11] Moore, “Wanted. Lady Canvasser of Smart Appearance. Advertisement.”
[12] “Otago Expansion League.”
[13] Moore, Robert Percy, 1881-1948 :Panoramic Photographs of New Zealand.
[14] “Civil Court. Unpaid Debt Claims. Heard Yesterday.”
[15] “Deep-Sea Sport. Complete Sound Picture to Be Taken by Fox Film Corporation.”
[16] Moore, “Colour Artist. Miss Evelyn Moore. R.P. Moore’s Studios. Advertisement.”
[17] “Untitled. [Mr Robert P. Moore at Present Visiting Greymouth].”
[18] Moore, “Trallwyn”, Farm and House in Tauranga.
[19] “New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-2010.”
[20] Panora Studio, “Situations Vacant. Photography. Smart Girl for Dark-Room. Advertisement.”
[21] Newton, “Out of Sight. R. Vere Scott and R.P. Moore: Forgotten Federation-Era Panoramic Photographers.”
[22] “Tasman Air Service. Tasman Empire Airways Flying-Boat Aotearoa Left Auckland [R.P. Moore].”
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