TAIM BIPO - A Selection of Old Photographs from Papua New Guinea 1800 - 1960's

by Michael Coutts

South Pacific Magazine, 1990, 82 pages, ISBN 998085880X, large format hardback, photographs throughout in b&w, sepia and colour.

Very Good Condition, previous owners label on dedication page (see photographs)

Authors Introduction: 'In pidgin 'taim bipo' means 'before today' or simply 'looking back'.  As a journalist based in Papua New Guinea, I began collecting old photographs some years ago with a view to using them in my publication, South Pacific Magazine, and thus preserving the photographs from deteriorating in the heat and humidity.

It also occurred to me that there was no 'potted' history in pictures of the country.  On that basis, and because I believe that any responsible literature on PNG is a real asset to the developing country, I decided to go ahead and produce this book.  I have taken it up to the 1960's because even that era is comparatively old in the 'Land of the Unknown'.  in order to capture the full flavour of earlier years and facilitate continuity of events, it has been necessary to use certain photographs which may well have been published before ...'