A 1960 LIFE story carried the headline “Lovely Land Too Far Away.” The story was about the country of New Zealand, which is distant to everyone living in America, but must have seemed especially so to LIFE staff photographer George Silk when he was missing the country where he was born and raised.
The story was about Silk returning home and photographing his country of origin. Here’s the words LIFE used to introduce readers to New Zealand:
His homeland is a country roughly the size of Colorado, divided into two big islands, some little ones, and separated by a 1,000 miles of South Pacific from the nearest land mass. It is a land which, for its size, packs in more natural wonders than any on earth. They range from the beautiful, mile-deep waters of Milford Sound locked serenely within their mile-high mountains to caves, unmatched anywhere, which shimmer with a mystic blue illumination cast by the taillights of millions of glow worms.
This story was actually the second time that Silk had photographed his home country for LIFE. He also did so in 1946, about three years after he started with the magazine. Pictures from both photo essays are presented here.
New Zealand is known for its physical beauty—the popular Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, which was shot there and has inspired film-related tours, certainly helped get the word out. Many of Silk’s photos capture his homeland’s natural wonders. The 1946 set includes a stunning shot of tourists traversing the Fox Glacier. In 1960 Silk took another photograph of tourists in an ice cave at the Franz Josef Glacier that is every bit as breathtaking.
But Silk’s photos make clear that his affection for his homeland goes far beyond its natural wonders. The 1946 set highlights the lives of ordinary New Zealanders. His pride shines through in images of young White and Maori schoolgirls together at school, or of a former serviceman working to construct public housing, or of children receiving free dental care en masse at a government facility. (Back then New Zealand was on the forefront of socialized medicine, though the country’s approach to healthcare has actually evolved in a more capitalist direction in recent decades).
But no matter the subject, the photographs are suffused with the spirit of a photographer who wants to show the world how wonderful his homeland is.
The most personal shot in either set was taken in 1960. In that photo Silk’s niece stands on the shore and eats an oyster she has just plucked from the ocean, in violation of local fishing laws. The story said that when Silk was a boy his mother would send him to that beach to harvest oysters and bring them to her—she didn’t want to go herself for fear of getting caught.
It’s an of image of the joy of youth that people from anywhere can relate to.
A motorist was stuck on the highway amid a mob of sheep on their way to market, New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A White and Maori child at a New Zealand school, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
In New Zealand, children received free dental care inside government-owned dental clinic, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
heep grazed in a pasture around a lake at the foot of the mountains, New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A black sand beach in New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A young woman fed trout by hand in New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Dust rose up from the bed of the Waimakariri River in New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A former serviceman worked on a government housing project in New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A guide led tourists through the pinnacles and crevices on the Fox Glacier in New Zealand, 1946.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
In New Zealand a tour guide led a vacationing farmgirl through a cave at the South Island’s Franz Josef Glacier, 1959.
George Silk/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Hikers in New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Hikers in New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Photo essay on New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Mitre Peak (center( reflected in Milford Sound on the Southwest coast of New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Children rode a tricycle with their school bags, New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A sailboat race in New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Volunteer lifeguards at a beach near Auckland, New Zealand, 1959.
George Silk/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Jeanette Morgan, niece of LIFE photographer George Silk, swallowed a sweet rock oyster she had just caught, 1959.
George Silk/LIfe Picture Collection/Shutterstock
