OUR FAUNA, CAPTURED
Warkworth photographer Cally Whitham has long been captivated by the quiet beauty of rural life, a fascination that began in childhood and continues to inform her distinctive body of work.
Cally began taking photographs as a young child, capturing the trees, birds, and landscapes of her neighbourhood. Annual visits to her aunt’s farm introduced her to the rural environment, leaving a lasting impression that would shape both her life and her work. Her first camera, a small Instamatic received as a Christmas present, was turned toward the birds, trees, and farm animals she encountered there – subjects that continue to inspire her photography decades later.
After studying photography and working in commercial portraiture, Cally moved to the country in her early twenties, drawn back to the landscapes and animals that had fascinated her as a child. Her latest book, The Long Shadow: How Introduced Species Changed the Fauna of Aotearoa, emerged from years of photographing her local environment – neighbours’ farm animals, predators, native and introduced birds, and the surrounding landscapes.
The inspiration for the book deepened when Cally introduced her son to the natural world and noticed how much of what they encountered was ‘exotic’ rather than native. This curiosity led her into deep research on New Zealand’s past and the decisions of the mid-1800s that shaped the nation’s ecosystems. With decades of work behind her, Cally conceived a richly illustrated exploration of how New Zealand’s fauna came to be, pairing arresting portraits with century-old clippings that reveal the complex legacy of the country’s long experiment with introduced species.
The resulting book offers a compelling portrait of how foreign species changed the face of New Zealand’s wildlife. Portraits of animals and birds are accompanied by concise insights, making it a visually striking and thought-provoking coffee-table book. Many of the images feature local subjects – animals and birds from Cally’s rural surroundings – allowing her to observe and capture moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Through The Long Shadow, Cally brings together her lifelong passion for photography, her deep connection to the land, and her fascination with New Zealand’s environmental history, creating a work that is both visually powerful and rich in context. The Long Shadow: How Introduced Species Changed the Fauna of Aotearoa by Cally Whitman, published by Bateman Books, is available now.