Terrible Boredom of Paradise

In 2004, Henderson set out with a 4×5 view camera looking to recapture the view from the window in the back seat of his parents’ car driving around the country on holidays. Over 14,000km across four months—through cars, houses, churches, street corners, and long stretches of open road—these detail-rich and saturated color images resonate with both social critique and abiding affection for the people and landscape of New Zealand.

The book was originally received with some controversy, notably by Kim Hill, New Zealand’s famously direct radio interviewer, taking exception to the phrasing of the title as an assessment of the country. But the body of work has become an undeniable touchstone, significant in bringing the new color tradition of American photographers like Joel Sternfeld and Stephen Shore to New Zealand, and inspiring a new generation of photographers in New Zealand.

Originally published in 2005, this influential work returns with an expanded and corrected suite of images, alongside new critical essays that contextualize its enduring impact on contemporary photography.