Frank Habicht - Creative Photographer thetotaras@ihug.co.nz
   text by Margaret Rasmussen

One of those who have chosen to leave their native land and settle in Paihia is Frank Habicht, photographer. Frank has provided us with some of the stunning photographs you will see on this website.

In 1982 Frank, his wife Christina and their two sons came from Berlin (population 2 million) to Paihia (population 2,000). Frank is clear about the reasons he left an established career as an internationally successful photographer to come here. He says that he was tired of the increasing affluence and competitiveness of Europe, a competitiveness which had begun to pressure children even before they started school.

Having visited this country twice, Frank had fallen in love with the friendliness of New Zealand people, the unspoilt scenery and especially the quality of the light, so different from the light of Europe.

Frank first became interested in photography at the age of 14 when he began to develop his prime passion, his interest in photographing people. Frank looks for an expression, a spontaneous action or reaction, which reveals the essence of a person or a situation. He is fascinated by the situations which often pass unnoticed in the bustle of modern life or those which create an image of fantasy or add a touch of humour. He prefers to let his photographs speak for themselves and evoke a response in the observer’s unconscious, rather than try to explain them in words.

In the sixties, Frank went to London and took up photography as a freelance. This was a roller-coaster time when new trends were springing up in fashion, in music and in thought. The Rolling Stones were young and political demonstrations attracted vast numbers of people. Here Frank took some of his most famous photos, which so captured the spirit of the times that they still interest today’s young generation of fashion followers. These were published in a book, Young London, Permissive Paradise (George G Harrap & Co Ltd 1969). A second book, In The Sixties was published by Tandem Press in 1998. Both appear in libraries around the world.

After returning to Germany to study at the Hamburg School of Photography, Frank had a varied career including being stills photographer for movie directors Roman Polanski and Jules Dassin and later freelancing for many prestigious publications including The Guardian, Twen, US Camera and the London Sunday Times. In New Zealand his photos are familiar to readers of North & South and Next magazines and of Far North newspapers. He has exhibited in London, Japan and Germany but his heart is now firmly in the Bay of Islands.

His stunning photographs celebrate our unique environment, the contrasts of the landscape, the changing colours of the sea and the sky, and above all, the special moments in the lives of our people. His two books, Bay of Islands – Where the Sunday Grass is Greener with Kiki and Helme Heine and his recent Bay of Islands – A Paradise Found with Bob Molloy (Totara Press, Paihia 1995) capture the fun and friendship to be found in this beautiful part of New Zealand.

Frank could be seen as a willing one-man publicity machine for the Bay. He has worked with New Zealand tourism operators on promotional material and his photos appear in Air New Zealand’s in-flight magazine, Pacific Way. His books have also been published to critical acclaim in Germany, a country where New Zealand is a favourite travel destination because of our unspoiled scenery and relaxed, friendly people.

He continues to work as a freelance creative photographer and is currently working on a new book with his son.

Frank Habicht - Creative Photographer
thetotaras@ihug.co.nz