Keeper of Photographs Matthew O'Sullivan using a lightbox to look at a negative in his office. Photo: Air Force Museum of New Zealand
For the past 29 years, Matthew O'Sullivan has been working to fill in the gaps of New Zealand's military history.
He's the official 'keeper of photographs' at the Air Force Museum in Christchurch, which is home to an archive containing more than one million snapshots - documenting both the Air force and Defence Force over the years.
Some images date back to World War II, and a handful of negatives even go right back to the 1920s.
As well as conserving the collection, Matthew often gets requests from the public hoping to track down images of long-lost relatives, or from far-away towns who want to memorialise our country's role in the war.
Matthew O'Sullivan speaks with Susie Ferguson.
Image from the Laurence Walter Tarr personal collection. Side view of RNZAF Antarctic Flight Beaver NZ6001 on the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, with Mt. Erebus in the background. Antarctica. Photo: Air Force Museum of New Zealand
Group of pilots gathered around a bomb on a trolley to discuss air strike. Unknown location. Corsairs in the background believed to be on charge to No. 31 Servicing Unit. Photo: RNZAF
