Gil Hanly

Hanly was born in 1934 in Levin, New Zealand. She has two younger brothers. She grew up on a sheep farm between the sea and the town of Bulls, where the family worked hard to contribute. She met her husband Pat Hanly while at Ilam. == Career ==

After she graduated from university she moved to London for five years, where she worked as a props buyer for a production company. The family moved back to New Zealand in the early 1960s, living in Mount Eden, Auckland. == Artistic career ==

Hanly became one of the leading social documentary photographers in New Zealand in the 1970s and 1980s, She says she is attracted to things "that were important". Hanly's photographic collections include images of public figures including the Topp Twins, Claudia Pond Eyley, Carole Shepheard, Hone Harawira and Helen Clark. She does not describe herself as a photographic artist, but rather she sees herself as a "documenter". == Recognition ==

In 1993 Hanly was awarded a New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal. In the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hanly was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to photography. In 2014 and 2015, Hanly donated much of her photographic collections to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, totalling approximately 144,000 images. == Personal life ==

Hanly was married to the painter Pat Hanly until he died in 2004. == References ==