Observations of a Rural Nurse

A unique photographic portrait of the King Country

Sara McIntyre, the daughter of the artist Peter McIntyre, was nine years old when her family first came to Kākahi, in the King Country, in 1960. The family has been linked to Kākahi ever since. On the family car trips of her childhood, McIntyre got used to her father’s frequent stops for subject matter for painting. Fifty years on, when she moved to Kākahi to work as a district nurse, she began to do the same on her rounds, as a photographer.

This book brings together her remarkable photographic exploration — her ‘observations’ — of Kākahi and the sparsely populated surrounding King Country towns of Manunui, Ōhura, Ōngarue, Piriaka, Ōwhango and Taumarunui.

To look inside, click here.

‘ ... a truly magnificent collection of colour photographs, impressively large in size, capturing the richness of a sequestered territory and its isolated inhabitants, both outdoors and indoors.’ — Clarke Isaacs, Otago Daily Times

‘It's a cracker!’ — Kathryn Ryan, RNZ

‘A thick book of astonishing photographs taken in the King Country, flicking through feels like going for a walk just after it’s stopped raining.’ — Unity Books Auckland 

‘The pleasures of Observations are many: rusted rooves and dilapidated exteriors contrast with almost Baroque interiors; communal spaces are sites of care, joy and public rigour; intimate and revealing portraits mix it up with landscapes of a little-visited and hilly, misted terrain. The shadow of Peter McIntyre may be ever-present but, with this book, Sara McIntyre presents a King Country that is hers alone.’ — Don Abbott, Art New Zealand