Gil Hanly

Hanly was born in 1934 in Levin, New Zealand. She has two younger brothers.[1] She grew up on a sheep farm between the sea and the town of Bulls, where the family worked hard to contribute.[1]

She was home schooled until the age of 12, when she was sent to Nga Tawa school in Marton.[1]

She attended the Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch in the early 1950s, where she trained to be a painter.[2] She met her husband Pat Hanly while at Ilam.[1]

After she graduated from university she moved to London for five years, where she worked as a props buyer for a production company.[1]

After she moved back to New Zealand she worked at University Bookshop for a decade.[1]

She has taken photographs of the 1981 Springbok tour, the sinking of the Greenpeace ship The Rainbow Warrior, the protest at Bastion Point, and the 1984 land hikoi.[1][2] She has also documented the Queen Street riots and outrage at the murder of Teresa Cormack.[1] Her photographs of the women's movement in the 1970s and 1980s featured prominently in the exhibition at Auckland War Memorial Museum, Are We There Yet?[3] She says she is attracted to things "that were important".[3]

Hanly was associated with the long-running feminist magazine Broadsheet.[1][2] However, she does not think she is a feminist.[1]

She also has an interest in photographing gardens.[1][4]

She doesn't describe herself as a photographic artist, rather she sees herself as a "documenter".[4]

Hanly was married to the painter Pat Hanly until he died in 2004.[1][2] She has two children with Pat, and her husband had another daughter in a different relationship.[4]