In a career that spanned six decades, the Dutch-Kiwi photographer Ans Westra (1936- 2023) made it her life's work to capture the growth of a nation through hundreds of thousands of images. Her photographic catalogue is now widely thought of as a photo album of Aotearoa New Zealand. This richly illustrated biography interrogates her remarkable -- and at times controversial -- practice, and a life that always put photography first.

Dr Paul Moon ONZM is a professor of history at Auckland University of Technology, where he has taught since 1993. He is the author of many books, including biographies of James Busby, William Hobson, Robert FitzRoy, and the Ngapuhi rangatira Hone Heke and Hone Heke Ngapua. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society at University College, London.