Kōrero: Photography

Brian Brake's 'Monsoon girl' (2 o 2)

Brian Brake's 'Monsoon girl'

New Zealand photojournalist Brian Brake joined the prestigious photo agency Magnum in 1955. His most famous series is 'Monsoon', which he shot in India in 1960. Brake straddled the pictorial and documentary styles of photography, and this mixed approach is exemplified in his best-known image, 'Monsoon girl' from the Monsoon series. It looks as if Brake has spontaneously captured a young Indian woman revelling in the sensation of monsoon rain on hot skin, but in fact the whole scene was set up. Brake got actor Aparna Das Gupta to stand on a terrace and an assistant poured water from a watering can over her face. 

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Reference: CT.035625
Photograph by Brian Brake

Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Peter Ireland, 'Photography - Photography expands, 1880s to 1960s', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/43221/brian-brakes-monsoon-girl (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Peter Ireland, i tāngia i te 22 Oct 2014