Completion of the Geoffrey C Wood Proof Book Project
New photographic resource gives the public a glimpse into Nelson Tasman’s more recent past
KAITERITERI BEACH SCENE. NELSON PROVINCIAL MUSEUM, GEOFFREY C WOOD COLLECTION: GCW2.1189_FR13
As part of August’s Family History Month, the Nelson Provincial Museum is thrilled to announce the completion of the Geoffrey C Wood Proof Book Project, thanks to the generous funding of The Nelson Civic Trust.
Geoffrey C Wood was a prominent 20th Century Nelson Photographer, well known for his studio and his time as a contract photographer for the Nelson Evening Mail. The Geoffrey C Wood Collection is Nelson Provincial Museum’s largest, comprising of an estimated 650,000 negatives. It is a historically important collection, including studio, wedding and outdoor, advertising and business photographs. Previously, there was no straightforward way for the public to search or view these negatives.
Along with these negatives Nelson Provincial Museum also inherited the proof books Geoffrey C Wood and his family kept, which enabled photos to be more easily found amid this vast collection. Proof books contain proof sheets, also known as contact sheets. These are printed positives of the negative strips. They are the same size as the negatives, which are mostly 35mm or 120 film – each image is like a miniature preview. Films and frames are numbered on the proof sheet so that the correct film can be retrieved, and the right frames selected. The films themselves are kept in a temperature and humidity controlled cold store for their ongoing preservation.
This project has involved digitising Geoffrey C Wood’s proof books, covering his photographs for the Nelson Evening Mail, taken during the period of 1960 to 1978. This resource can be used as a visual finding aid, giving the public greater access to this remarkable collection and a glimpse into Nelson’s more recent past.
The process of digitising the proof books was no mean feat, and took almost two years of volunteer time, and significant input from our Senior Curator of Photography, Darryl Gallagher.
Over 40,000 proof book records are now available via our Collections Online.
