Time to hunt out your old photos

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but last year’s winner of the Christchurch Photo Hunt competition is worth a lot more than that.

The image Balloonist in Lancaster Park was taken in 1899, mere weeks before the turn of the century during a parachute display by famous daredevil Captain Charles Lorraine.

Hours after the photograph was taken the parachute came apart from the balloon and was blown out to sea. Tragically Captain Lorraine drowned.

“The image was chosen as last year’s winner because of its connection to the social history of Christchurch. We were also really taken with the incredible detail in the image, especially as those watching the balloon are unaware they are being photographed,” Head of Libraries and Information Carolyn Robertson said.

“The hope is that this image will inspire people to take a look in their garage, or back cupboards to find their old photos.”

Contributor Lynda Sadler said the photo was developed by her father from a glass plate found in the garage of their family home in Tai Tapu.

The annual Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt competition is now under way and this year’s theme, in line with the Heritage Festival, is Our Stories – Milestones and Moments.

“We know there are many stories in Ōtautahi-Christchurch and Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū-Banks Peninsula to tell and images are one of the ways we can share them. We’d love to preserve as many of these stories as we can as part of the libraries’ digital collection,” Ms Robertson says.

The Photo Hunt is open until 31 October as part of the Christchurch Heritage Festival.

You can enter online here or you can drop in your physical images to any library and they will be returned to you at a later date once they have been scanned.   

Christchurch Heritage Festival is on from 7 to 24 October, check out the full list of events here.  

Image: Balloonist in Lancaster Park, 1899, CCL-PH21-LySa-005, Contributed by Lynda Sadler for Photo Hunt 2021.