Dear Dad… Brian Brake writes home to his father, Jack Brake

Abstract

This article draws on 20 postcards from a private collection which have only recently come to light, written by New Zealand-born photographer Brian Brake to his father Jack Brake in the 1950s, and therefore during the years when he was establishing himself as a photo-journalist. Although the collection is not large in number, the messages written on the backs of these postcards provide a wonderful opportunity to locate Brian Brake’s whereabouts during these years and retrace the significant events in his life at this time in his own words. Importantly, the postcards cover the critical period immediately prior to Brake undertaking the filming of his remarkable visual documentary, Monsoon, in India during the northern summer months of 1960. It would be this assignment that would establish his name as a world-class photo-journalist.