Anne Noble is one of New Zealand’s most important senior photographers and is one of the artists best represented in the Sarjeant collection, no doubt in part because she was born in Whanganui and because many of her works respond to this region. In 1980 Noble had her first major exhibition at the Sarjeant and, in 1989, she was amongst the first artists in residence at Tylee Cottage, returning again for another residency in 2020. One of her best-known bodies of work is a large series, including this image, that explores the Whanganui River from its source to its arrival at the sea.
I love noticing old bridges, especially if I’m in the former Rodney Council area north of Auckland. This is where my grandfather was based and was partner in a concrete company that built many of the bridges (and other structures like water reservoirs) in the area. Aside from a distinctive few, including the bridge opposite the Puhoi pub, it’s hard to know which ones are his so I’m always wondering.
- Andrew Clifford, for the My Choice Exhibition Series, April 2023

The Whanganui River is a spiritual place for Anne Noble, who grew up on its banks. In 1982 she made a photographic journey up the river, she says of it 'In the morning the mist rises off the river, and from a hilltop above the valley I see a long snake of mist floating in the river's path, that stretches as far as the eye can see. The Wanganui; a healing river of sacred springs and potent secrets. I came out of the Place as the Spring from its Source. I made a journey to claim this river. I feel its currents curling around my bones.'
- http://www.art-newzealand.com/Issues21to30/noble.htm

The remaining piles of the Te Maire Bridge remain today on the Whanganui River, near Taumarunui, King Country, NZ.