Laurence Aberhart was brought to town by southern-born patron Tim Gerrard and the Eastern Southland Gallery, to capture some of its iconic sites.
He spoke to The Ensign last week, before photographing the billiard room of The Gore Club in Mersey St, which was built in the 1920s.
The gentlemen’s club reminded him of his extensive series, taking photos of Masonic Lodges across the country.
His interest in the Freemasons began as a personal one because, growing up, his mother had a strong dislike for the world’s oldest fraternal society.
Aberhart’s uncle, whom he is named after, was a soldier who died of measles in 1941.
At the funeral, when it came time for his uncle to be buried, the family was excluded, as it became a "masonic rite", which was something his mother never forgave.
As Aberhart became more familiar with small towns, he realised there was a masonic building in every one, but never on the main drag.
"I had to go looking for them," he said.
This began a useful device for Aberhart where, in finding the lodges, he would get to know the place better as well.
"I became interested in recording them," he said.
"But then it became recording them, and a number of other buildings, because if someone like myself didn’t record them, in the future, would they be remembered?"
Around the 100th anniversary of World War 1, he toured Southland, taking photos of its many war memorials.
Also while in the south he visited Waitaki Boys’ High School in Oamaru, with Mr Gerrard, who went to school there and said it was one of New Zealand’s "unknown treasures".
"I think the older you get, the more you live in your past, and you’re aware of [it] and the things that form you as the person you are," he said.
A photograph of the school hall alongside a selection of Aberhart’s Southland-related artworks are on show at the Eastern Southland Gallery.
Aberhart takes large format photos with a view camera on a tripod with bellows and long exposures, leaving his camera for up to an hour to get the elaborate shots.
With variables such as light, movement and film, there are many things that can go wrong with photography, all of which Aberhart, after 50 years, is aware of.
His shots may look painstaking, but he still enjoys the surprise and chance of an accident.
"I’m a perfectionist that works not in hope of the accident but prepared for the accident," he said.
"I like failure ... The more you miss, when you get the right one, there’s a greater sense of achievement."
He enjoyed treading that line while capturing Cremoata’s Sergeant Dan in Gore, as the sun was going down and he was trying to get the the light just right.
Only time would tell if it worked or not, he said.
