Queensberry dates back to 1969 and Heather Baugh’s handcraft leather business in Auckland, New Zealand. From the very start, her focus was on two things:
That focus is at the very core of Queensberry’s vision and purpose today. To understand our business and what drives us you must go deeper than albums, printing and software.
It's not about albums. In the end it's not even about photography – it's about the story those images convey.
Heather's insight was that we don't make albums, we serve those strangers in the viewfinder, by crafting their memories into a treasured possession that tells their story, and that they can enjoy, reflect upon and share forever.
Heather made albums from the start, but it was our partnership with photographers that created a strong foundation for our business.
Realising that both they and their customers wanted to present their images at their very best, photographers began to seek Heather out. Ever since then we have spoken of three main players in Queensberry’s world: the customer who’s special moments and stories we celebrate, the photographer who captures them, and we at Queensberry who transform them into a beautiful object so they can be remembered forever.
Heather’s handcrafted books were very popular.
By the mid ’80s Heather’s husband Ian had become involved in the growing enterprise and the growing family business was shipping albums to Australia.
Over the years Heather was also proud to be involved in special commissions for Indira Gandhi, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul, Princess Diana, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Sir Edmund Hillary, and many more since.
But by the early ’90s Heather and Ian were restless. Photographers needed albums they could customise to suit the particular photos a client bought, but manufacturers’ production and stocking problems made it very difficult for them to do that and also keep their products fresh and up to date.
At the time we described wedding albums as “the industry that style forgot”.
Driven by the desire to present the magic of a wedding day in the most exceptional way, in 1994 Heather and Ian revolutionised the album business by resolving that, from then on, they would make every album to order. They launched their break-through Pagemount presentation system and promised to “liberate photographers from album makersʼ constraints and tired designs forever”. Now photographers would be free to design albums to suit their images, and we could deliver contemporary products with high design values.
In 1996 a new generation of the family became involved and began to lay the groundwork for a major expansion of the business. Queensberry installed the first computerised mat cutter in the album business and developed radical new in-house software to drive it.
As internet pioneers, we began to attract clients in North America and Britain. Being able to tell stories through photos in albums designed to suit the images was a radical innovation in 2000, and an immediate success. We developed new business systems so that we could talk to our clients personally and deliver promptly door to door. More than three quarters of Queensberry’s sales now come from the northern hemisphere.
In 2001 Queensberry released Photojunction, the leading album design software program, which we now offer free to photographers everywhere. Thousands of photographers use the software, many of them choosing Queensberry albums.
In 2003 Queensberry bought Chromatek, New Zealand’s iconic wedding and portrait pro lab so we could deliver albums filled with the best possible printing to clients around the world.
These newer ventures are as important to us now as albums have always been. For example, Queensberry’s most recent design innovation, Duo albums, would be impossible without our expertise in technology and printing.
But to understand our business and what drives us you must go deeper than albums, printing and software.
We’re in the business of fairy tales, love stories, special moments… Crafting memories into treasured objects to enjoy, reflect upon and share forever.