Mary Elizabeth Greenwood (1 January 1873 – 28 July 1961) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

photographer. She was an early promoter of the autochrome photographic process in New Zealand. Her work is held by the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

and by the

National Library of New Zealand The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

Biography

Greenwood was born on 1 January 1873, the daughter of Clara Maria Greenwood and Frederick Daw Greenwood. She owned and operated a commercial photographic studio, Elizabeth Greenwood Studios, on Woodward Street in Wellington from around 1906. Much of her work involved taking society and portrait photographs. Greenwood was also a member of the Wellington Camera Club and judged photographic competitions and gave lectures. In 1908 Greenwood was interviewed by a reporter of the Dominion newspaper on the autochrome photographic process. She gave the reporter a demonstration of the new technique. She retired in 1936. A resident of

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, Greenwood died on 28 July 1961, and her ashes were buried in

Karori Cemetery Karori Cemetery is the second-largest cemetery in New Zealand. It opened in 1891, and is located in the Wellington suburb of Karori. History Karori Cemetery opened in 1891 to address overcrowding at Bolton Street Cemetery. In 1909, it recei ...

. Although the whereabouts of much of her photographic material and autochrome plates is unknown, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the National Library of New Zealand hold several pieces of her work.

Family

Greenwood's father, Frederick Daw Greenwood, was the brother of Ellen Greenwood and Jane Stowe. Greenwood's grandfather was

John Danforth Greenwood John Danforth Greenwood (1803–1890) was a New Zealand physician, newspaper editor, amateur painter and principal of Nelson College. His grandfather was the portrait painter John Greenwood. Biography John Danforth Greenwood was a physician, a ...

who was married to the New Zealand artist, letter-writer and teacher

Sarah Greenwood Sarah Greenwood (born March 1960) is a British production designer. Early career She studied at the Wimbledon College of Art and was production designer in theater for more than three years. However she was not entirely satisfied with the w ...

. Her great-great-grandfather was the early American portrait painter John Greenwood. Greenwood took a portrait photograph of her aunt, Ellen Greenwood, which she donated to the Levin Memorial Home in commemoration of her aunt's charitable work.

References

1873 births 1961 deaths New Zealand photographers New Zealand women photographers Artists from Wellington City

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

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