Description Comments

Argosy Aerial - Main Street, Broadway and Grey Street

Object type

Image

Description: This aerial photograph shows Main Street, Broadway and Grey Street (running vertically, left to right), looking toward Te Marae o Hine, The Square. Martin Street connects Broadway and Grey St in the lower right of the photograph. Albert Street runs from left to right, parallel with Martin St. Further back, Victoria Avenue runs parallel to Albert St, ending in a T intersection at Grey St. The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit can be seen on the right side of Broadway, just past the corner with Victoria Ave.

Argosy Studio (Argosy Industrial Photos) was a photography business owned and operated between 1950 and 1980 by Joe Greening (formerly employed by Elmar Studios). Originally located in Broadway, Argosy later moved to Cuba Street on the corner with Lombard Street.

As well as commissioned work (such as photographing the old railyards or aerial shots for the Council) Greening was known to operate as a street photographer, capturing the likenesses of passersby, offering his card with the negative number so they could buy the image if they wished. Many of these images will be in family photo albums.

A fire in 1965 destroyed many negatives in Argosy's collection but this image was one of the 400 or so survivors. Greening donated many of these surviving images to the Ian Matheson City Archives in 1989 before retiring to Kaitaia. He died in 2001.