Description
A native of Bohemia, miner Jos Divis photographed life in New Zealand mining towns Blackball, Waiuta and Waihi, places where he worked between 1909 and 1935. Thanks to Divis’s graphic and sensitive work we have an extraordinary record of the isolated and often dangerous life in some of our mining communities – above ground and deep beneath it – seen through the eyes of a miner. This third edition contains additional photographs and more information on the life of Joseph Divis.
For nearly 100 years the name Jos Divis was missing from histories of New Zealand photography. Now a wrong is being righted. Some call him the ‘inventor of the selfie’. A street photographer ahead of his time he pioneered techniques to capture images of ordinary people and their working lives in a way no-one else could. Imprisoned for his beliefs, he lived his last years alone in the ghost town he helped bring to life, his family believing him dead. JOS is a journey of discovery following a historian, a photographer and a museum curator all working to give Jos Divis’ the recognition he deserves.
Author: Simon Nathan. Publisher: “Friends of Waiuta”.
