A definitive illustrated history of the graphic work of the railways studios.
This lavish book explores the story behind the promotion of New Zealand’s mountains – through posters, advertisements, hand-coloured photos and more. It explains how the country built its reputation as an alpine playground and, alongside, how mountains became central to belonging to Aotearoa.
“This collection of a century of posters, glass slides, brochures, advertisements, paintings, photochromes and lithographs is the sort of beautifully produced ode to photography, hand lettering, graphic design and illustration we have come to expect from the team behind Selling the Dream and Hand-Coloured New Zealand.” —North & South Best Books of the Year 2018
“… Peter Alsop, Dave Bamford and Lee Davidson bring their varied professional skills to bear on the task of showing how we made the mountains irresistible … Scenic Playground is social history at full throttle.” —The Otago Daily Times
Look inside Scenic Playground here
About the authors
Peter Alsop is a senior executive who has worked across the public and private sectors. He is a keen collector of New Zealand art, with particular interests in tourism publicity, hand-coloured photography and mid-century New Zealand landscape paintings. He is the author and co-author of five previous books.
Dave Bamford is now an independent tourism advisor who has worked extensively in New Zealand on regional tourism strategies, business plans and national park recreational opportunities.
Lee Davidson teaches in the Museum and Heritage Studies programme at Victoria University of Wellington.
Extent: 448 pages
Format: Hardback