When it comes to subjects for photographs Ho Hai Tran, who grew up in Hastings and now lives in Sydney, knows a fine shape.
And in the case of the shape which forms the heart of his latest project it is an architectural profile many people, all over the country and in lands beyond, would instantly recognise.
That unique steep-pitched roof atop a more gently sloping spread of roof - above a large rectangular building.
The Pizza Hut.
Accordingly, he calls his pursuit of the unmistakable buildings his "pizza hunt".
Tran, who works with partner and creative director Chloe Cahill, is first to concede the buildings are not exactly aesthetically compelling but that they do ooze a certain charm. "It is fascinating to see how businesses have reinterpreted the buildings and either rejected or embraced the past," he said.
In his travels across New Zealand, Australia and the United States over the past two years chasing down the unique former pizza restaurants he has come across some interesting conversions.
One is now a funeral parlour in Sydney.
Another is a printing company in Pennsylvania.
Then there's the Church of the Saviour in Florida and a stylish conversion into the Great Wall of China (with a roof) in Illinois.
And the one which started it all - the first Pizza Hut built in Belfield in Australia in the 1970s.
While pizzas are no longer on the menu there it still serves food - as a Seoul Korean Restaurant.
Tran spotted it and was intrigued and took a few shots.
He and Chloe also spotted another former Pizza Hut in Liverpool in Sydney, which had been renovated into a Salvation Army Centre.
"We saw it every time we drove past - and it all started from there."
He began to spread the word online that he was in search of old Pizza Huts and the replies began to trickle in, then flow in.
"And we started to talk to people about it and heard their memories of them.
"The buildings are so recognisible and so many people have connections with them."
Tran said it had been eye-opening and reassuring that so many had been "re-interpreted" although many (like the old Napier one on Marine Parade) had long since seen the bulldozer.
"There are so many though having a second life, and we are finding them."
He and Chloe, who he described as half the brains of the project and who will provide the copy and edit the book, had turned up seven old Pizza Huts in New Zealand.
Among them the one in Hastings.
"It's now a seafood and chips spot."
It has been a long journey and if funding is sorted may conclude early next year, but there was no firm date yet.
It will be a photographic record of finding the iconic Pizza Hut restaurants that were erected in their thousands in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
"Today, only a handful of these huts remain and they now have second lives as everything from grocery stores, pawnshops, liquor stores and funeral homes - among other things."
Since capturing that first shot he has travelled over 14,000km in pursuit of them.
"To date I've captured nearly 100 huts."
As a lad growing up in Hawke's Bay during the '90s, the local Pizza Hut was a place of wonder.
"A world of red, checked tablecloths, pizza by the slice and an endless supply of soft serve - and when I was 8, the 'Book It' programme offered me a clear path to all of the pizza, garlic bread and jelly cubes my heart desired."
Tran was born in Hastings, where his family still live, and went to Hastings Boys' High School where he enjoyed art and in his last year there did a photography course.
"But I didn't pass, although after school I kept at it."
He travelled off to live in Paris for 18 months then came back to New Zealand and worked in Auckland for two years.
He then set sail for Sydney where he was now doing well - shooting mainly for the advertising industry.
"This is a project of love for us," he said of the "Pizza Hunt".
And when it is all over, after such a long and colourful journey, how will they feel?
"Not really sure to be honest - we will be happy to see the book and for everyone to see it and enjoy it though."
So is that photographic journey then over for good?
"Well it feels like there are still a lot more to find and it's sort of a race against time before they all disappear, so we'd love to do a follow-up."