The Swainson/Woods Collection, donated to Puke Ariki in 2005, is a nationally significant collection that traces both the lives of Taranaki people and the development of photography through time. The work of two studios, Swainson’s Studios and Bernard Woods Studios, the collection dates from 1923 to 1997. 

The Swainson/Woods Collection is a priceless visual record of Taranaki’s social history. Collections such as this help to maintain the collective memory of our community and offer an incredible resource for researchers, genealogists, family historians and the wider community. The collection features studio portraiture of individuals, families, sports teams, social groups and clubs, along with – amongst a great many other things – images of businesses, community events, Newton King’s funeral, Queen Elizabeth’s royal visit, portraits of soldiers before their departure for war, images of immigrants to Taranaki and Bernard Woods’ candid photography of social events.  The Swainson/Woods Collection is comprised of approximately 115,000 negatives and includes glass negatives, sheet film of various sizes, 120 and 35 mm roll film formats, silver gelatin chloride printing-out paper proof prints, silver gelatin bromide developing-out paper proof prints and chromogenic dye proof prints.  The cleaning, cataloguing and rehousing of the collection has been generously supported by Lottery Environment and Heritage and the Taranaki Electricity Trust (TET).

Since September 2010, over 1,000 images from the Swainson/Woods Collection have been made available to the Taranaki public through a series of digital exhibitions.  The exhibitions have been installed around the province and are kindly supported by the TET and the Puke Ariki Development Charitable Trust.  With the help of an enthusiastic public, valuable additional information for these images has been added to Puke Ariki’s museum records.  Further information flows in from the ‘Photo of the Week’ printed in the Taranaki Daily News.  These initiatives are the starting point for a major project to digitise the entire Swainson/Woods Collection, making the collection’s rich imagery fully accessible for the community to enjoy.