Acclaimed photographer found 'freedom' in New Zealand

The Dutch-born artist, 82, is a self-proclaimed outsider, but found a second home in Aotearoa.

She's the self-proclaimed outsider whose photographs captured life inside the homes and marae of this country.

Ans Westra, 82, is a woman who doesn't give up, even now working on another book.

The Holland-born artist came to New Zealand in the 1950s and stayed after meeting the Māori family living next door to her father.

"[They] stirred my interest to do a documentary, nobody seemed to photograph them, document their life," she said.

"I just felt a warmth, a welcome, that you don't get so readily with Europeans."

Her six month visit here turned into eight years working on her first book, Māori.

After a short stint back home, she returned to a life in New Zealand with "a freedom that I could be myself, away from family and have no one criticising me".

She spoke to Michael Cropp about her six decades of work, and her observations on Aotearoa and its people along the way.

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