Laurence Aberhart photograph

Laurence Aberhart, Memorial, Okaiawa, Taranaki, 28 November 2008

The 1970s saw a growth of art photography in New Zealand, thanks in part to the work of Photoforum. Laurence Aberhart was one photographer who quickly found his style. He primarily shoots in black and white on an old large-format camera that produces 8x10-inch negatives.

Aberhart tends to concentrate on things about to be lost, and vernacular architecture. Often his work has a sense of the typographic, particularly his collection of freemasons’ halls shot square-on. But he also produces less traditionally composed images. Matched with his superb technical ability, Aberhart’s prints are stunning to behold. Memorial, Okaiawa, Taranaki, 28 November 2008 is one of his more recent works, part of an ongoing study of war and other memorials.

Here is a video of Laurence Aberhart talking about his process and his work.