Documentary about renowned photographer Peter Peryer

A documentary on New Zealand photographer Peter Peryer will screen in Whanganui Thursday night. Photo / Supplied

Peter Peryer was one of New Zealand's most important photographers, who dedicated his life to making works of art out of the everyday.

He died in late 2018 leaving a huge catalogue of photographic work which includes many iconic New Zealand images.

The Sarjeant Gallery holds the largest collection of Peryer works in this country, a collection that was initiated in the 1980s by former director, Bill Milbank.

Peryer had many friends at the Sarjeant and in Whanganui and was a frequent visitor.

Tomorrow the Sarjeant will host the Whanganui premier of Peter Peryer: The Art of Seeing, a documentary about him made by NZ documentary maker Shirley Horrocks. She has made more than 20 documentaries since the mid-1980s which document Kiwi art and society with The Art of Seeing being her tenth straight film to win an invitation to the New Zealand International Film Festival.

Horrocks is in Whanganui for the screening of Peter Peryer: The Art of Seeing and will introduce the film Thursday at the Davis Lecture Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, Watt St, Whanganui, at 7pm.

Photographer Peter Peryer with a collection of his portraits from the past 30 years.