Book Launch | Woolsheds

Scorpio Books and Massey University Press warmly invite you to the launch of Woolsheds: The historic shearing sheds of Aotearoa New Zealand by Annette O’Sullivan and Jane Ussher. All welcome, refreshments provided. Please send in your RSVP and pre-order your book today!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, wool, mutton and lamb were the staples of the young New Zealand economy. By the 1980s, the national flock was counted at 75 million sheep, and wool export returns peaked at $1.8 billion. Now, however, the landscape of the farming industry has changed, and sheep farmers have had to make some tough adaptations, but it remains vital and important, and the industry continues to be peopled by some of this country’s most entrepreneurial and agri-science-focused brains.

This handsome book, exquisitely photographed by Jane Ussher, takes readers to historic sheep stations in the North and South Island, and explores the rich histories of this key primary industry that are contained in their heritage woolsheds. From the oldest working woolshed in mid-Canterbury to woolsheds rebuilt after earthquakes and sheds built by eminent public figures, it is a celebration of effort, industry and tenacity.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dr Annette O’Sullivan is a design academic and former senior lecturer in typography at Massey University School of Design. Her doctorate examined the design histories of branding and identity on historic New Zealand sheep stations. She is a London trained typographer and letterpress printer and comes from a background of design practice in publishing, museum, and exhibition design. She is a Massey University Honorary Research Associate and member of the International Society of Typographic Designers.

Jane Ussher MNZM is one of New Zealand’s most lauded photographers. Perhaps best known for her photographs for the Listener and, more recently, for magazines such as New Zealand House & Garden, her photographs have also appeared in the high-profile, award-winning books Coast, Islands, Worship; Still Life: Inside the Antarctic Huts of Scott and Shackleton; The New Zealand Horse; Endless Sea; Nature — Stilled; Historic New Zealand Homesteads and Rooms: Portraits of Remarkable New Zealand Interiors.