Peter Peryer (1941-2018) graduated with a degree in English and a Masters in Education. It was not until he was in his thirties that he took up photography which for many years was his sole occupation. In 1998 he had a major exhibition and publication in Germany called Second Nature. This exhibition toured in Germany and Australia. Peter Peryer has been the recipient of several awards. He has an ONZM for his contribution to photography in New Zealand and he has been a Fulbright Scholar, a grant that enabled him to continue studying his medium in the United States. In 2007 Peryer was awarded the William Hodges Fellowship which enabled him to live in Invercargill for four months, resulting in an exhibition of 31 images from that period at the Southland Museum & Art Gallery in early 2008. His works are widely collected and are held in all major New Zealand Institutions, and internationally, including the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. In 2000 he was awarded the prestigious Arts Foundation Laureate Award. He has been the subject of two major documentaries, Greg Stitt’s Peter Peryer: portrait of a photographer (1994) and more recently Shirley Horrock’s Peter Peryer: the art of seeing (2019) completed shortly before his death. Peter’s last major public exhibition was the survey show Peter Peryer: a careful eye at the Dowse Art Museum in 2014.

Chronology

1941 Peter Peryer was born in Auckland.
1955 Started High School at Northland College in Kaikohe. Later in the year, moved to Auckland and attended Takapuna Grammar School.
1961 Moved to Dunedin and attended Otago University.
1964 Married Erika Parkinson.
1966 Moved to Campbell’s Bay, Auckland.
1967 Completed Diploma in teaching and began primary teaching. Daughter Amy born.
1968 Son Clovis born.
1971 Lectured in English at the Auckland Teachers College
1972 Moved to the Bay of Islands with his family. Some relieving teaching at Okaihau. Completed Masters Degree in Education at the University of Auckland.
1974 Attended Photo-Forum workshop run by John B Turner at the School of Fine Arts.
1975 Published Mars Hotel a portfolio of six photographs and Gone home a portfolio of ten photographs in editions of twenty each. A portfolio of seven photographs published in Photo-Forum.
1976 Moved to Devonport. Portfolio published in Photo-Forum.
1977 Mars Hotel portfolio published in Spleen.
1978 Travelled to Europe and United States with his family with the assistance of a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant. Portfolio of work published in Creative Camera International Year Book 1978
1979 Lectured at symposium The photographic experience in Dunedin.
1982 Travelled to Sydney for Biennale of Sydney. Photographed Snake at Gosford, N.S.W.
1983 Artist-in-residence Rangitoto College, Auckland.
1985 Awarded a Fulbright cultural grant for travel to the United States. Tutored at Southern Art School run by the Southland Community College, Invercargill.
1987 Moved to Ponsonby, Auckland.
1989 Visited the sub-Antarctic Auckland, Campbell and Enderby Islands.
1995 Moved to Herald Island, Auckland.
1997 Made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to photography.
2000 Among the five artists recognised by the Arts Foundation of New Zealand as their inaugural Laureates.
2001 Moved to New Plymouth
2007 William Hodges Fellow at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Invercargill
2008 Henderson Arts Trust Residency, Henderson House, Alexandra

Selected Solo Exhibitions

1975 Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand (with Don Driver)
1976 For Your Pleasure, Snaps Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1976 Peter Peryer Photographs, Peter Webb Galleries, Auckland, New Zealand
1977 Peter Peryer: an Introduction, Dowse Art Gallery (now Dowse Art Museum), Lower Hutt, New Zealand
1982 Works in Space, Space Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1984 19 Photographs, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1984 Peter Peryer/Recent Photographs, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1985 Peter Peryer – Photographs, Centre of Contemporary Art, Hamilton, New Zealand
1985 Peter Peryer: Photographs, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
1987 Photographs Peter Peryer, George Fraser Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1988 Real Pictures Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1989 Southern Cross Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1992 Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1992 Recent Work, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
1993 Sue Crockford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1993 Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1995–1996 Second Nature: Peter Peryer, Photographer, touring Germany, New Zealand and Australia
1997 At Home And Away: Recent Photographs by Peter Peryer, Sarjeant Art Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
1997 Peter Peryer, Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Esbjerg and Arken Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
2001 The Left Hand Raised: Peter Peryer Photographs 1995-2001, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2001–2002 Erika: A Portrait by Peter Peryer, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
2002 Peter Peryer: Significant Early Photographs, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2003 www.peryer.co.nz: 14 Photographs by Peter Peryer, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2004 Park Rd to K Rd, Starkwhite, Auckland, New Zealand
2004 Peter Peryer: Classic Show, Starkwhite, Auckland, New Zealand
2005 Big, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2006-2007 Summertime, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2008 Southern Studies, Southland Museum & Art Gallery, Invercargill, New Zealand
2010 Other: portraits 1975 – 2004, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2010 Peter Peryer, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2012 Other: Photographic Portraits 1975–2011, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland
2014 Peter Peryer: A Careful Eye, The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
2016 Peter Peryer: Photographs, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2016 Peter Peryer, Old Bank Space (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery), New Plymouth, New Zealand
2017 Peter Peryer 2017, Jonathan Smart Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
2019 Peter Peryer: Works made 2010 – 2018, {Suite}, Wellington, New Zealand

Selected Group Exhibitions

1975 The Active Eye: Contemporary New Zealand Photography, Manawatu Art Gallery, Palmerston North, New Zealand (national tour).
1976 Photo-Forum ’76, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand
1977 Best of Snaps, Snaps, Auckland, New Zealand (national tour)
1977 Ex Camera, Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, New Zealand
1977 Recent Work, Snaps, Auckland, New Zealand
1977 New Work, Snaps, Auckland, New Zealand
1977 15 New Zealand Photographers, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand
1978 Family and Friends Part 1, Snaps, Auckland, New Zealand
1978 7 Photographers, Maidment Little Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand
1978 Snaps, Auckland, New Zealand (with Anne Noble)
1978 Antipodean Images, New Zealand House, London, UK
1978 Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1979 Two New Zealand Photographers (with Laurence Aberhart), Bosshard Galleries, Dunedin, New Zealand
1979 The New Image, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1979 Three New Zealand Photographers (with Laurence Aberhart and Fiona Clark), Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (national tour)
1980 Contemporary Photography, Photo-Forum Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1980 Recent Work, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1981 Recent Acquisitions, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1981 The Auckland Flower Show, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1981 Works on Paper, Photographs and Sculpture, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1981 Come Elephant Riding, Real Pictures, Auckland, New Zealand
1982 Me By Myself: the Self-Portrait, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1982 Summer ’82, RKS Art, Auckland, New Zealand
1982 Vision in Disbelief: The 4th Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
1982 Time Release, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand (also shown in Wellington)
1982 Birds, Bees and Things, Denis Cohn Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1982 The Nude Exposed, Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand
1982 Views/Exposures: Ten Contemporary New Zealand Photographers, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
1982 Recent Acquisitions, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1982 International Photography 1920-1980, Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia
1983 Recent Acquisitions, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1983 International Photography 1980-82, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia (toured Australia)
1984 Anxious Images: Aspects of Recent New Zealand Art, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (toured)
1984 The Chelsea Project, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1984 The Body in Question, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1984 Recent Acquisitions, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1985 International photography 1920 —1980 (from the Australian National Gallery, Canberra), Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (national tour)
1985 Posing a Threat, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1985 The Word, Bishop Suter Art Gallery, Nelson, New Zealand
1986 Content/Context: A Survey of Recent New Zealand Art, Shed 11, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1987 The Trained Eye, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1988 Mezzanine Gallery, New Zealand House, London, UK
1988 Seven Photographers’ Update, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
1989 Imposing Narratives: Beyond the Documentary in Recent New Zealand Photography, Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
1989 From Today Painting is Dead, Shed 11, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1990 Two Centuries of New Zealand Landscape Art, Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
1991 Headlands: Thinking Through New Zealand Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
1991 175° East, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand (toured Australia)
1991 Pacific Parallels, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, USA (toured USA)
1992 Scenes from Real and Imaginary Lives, Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
1994 Pictograms, Monash University Gallery, Victoria, Australia (toured Australia)
1995 Beyond Recognition, National Art Gallery of Australia (toured Australia)
1996 Jurassic Technologies Revenant: The 10th Biennale of Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Artspace and IvanDougherty Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1997 The Enigmatic Object: Photography and the Uncanny, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (toured Australia)
1998 Das Mass der Dinge (The Measure of Things), Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal, Germany and Rupertinum Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Austria
1998 Eat!, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia
1998 The Dream Collectors, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand
2000 Drive: Power, Progress and Desire, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2001 Botanica, Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2001 Friends of the Family: From the Bieringa Family Collection, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2002 Slow Release, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and Gippsland Gallery, Australia and Adam Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2002 Victory Over Death, Peter McLeavey Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2003 Home Sweet Home, Peter Fay Collection, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
2003 Image & Object: Still Life in New Zealand, Pataka, Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand
2003 Locals Only, Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford, New Zealand
2003 Nine Lives, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2003 Pressing Flesh:Skin, Touch, Intimacy, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2003 John Leech Gallery and Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2003 The Caravan Show, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand (toured New Zealand)
2004 Paradise Now, Asia Society & Museum, Park Lane, New York, USA
2004 Link Span Festival Exhibition during NZ International Festival of the Arts, Taranaki Wharf, Wellington, New Zealand
2005 Highchair, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
2005 Starkwhite, Auckland, New Zealand
2005 The TSB Collection Show, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
2005 Photo-London 2005 (with McNamara Gallery, Wanganui) London, UK
2005 Verbatim…Revelation to Oblivion, Lopdell House Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2006 Verbatim…Revelation to Oblivion, National Library Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2007 New Zealand Legacy Aotearoa Taonga-tuku-iho Commissioned by N.Z. Ministry for Culture & Heritage, Singapore and Hong Kong
2007 Auckland Art Fair, McNamara Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2007 Taranaki Festival of the Arts
2010 A Serious Kind of Beauty: The Heroic Landscape, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2010 Kin, The New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2012 Gavin Hurley, Peter Peryer & Emily Wolfe, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2012 Don Driver and Peter Peryer, Hamish McKay Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2012 Now and Then: Enduring and developing themes in contemporary New Zealand photography, Te Manawa Art Gallery, Palmerston North, New Zealand
2013 Available Light: Imagining More Than We See, McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand (toured to Waikanae)
2013 Auckland Art Fair, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2013 Summer, Melanie Roger Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand
2014 Flora Photographica Aotearoa, Bowen House Exhibition Space, Wellington, New Zealand and McNamara Gallery, Wanganui, New Zealand
2016 Ruminations in the Cloisters: Talking About Photography, Old Bank Space, New Plymouth, New Zealand (McNamara Gallery and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery)
2018 This Is New Zealand, City Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2019/20 Gone Home, CoCA Centre of Contemporary Art Toi Moroki, Christchurch, New Zealand
2020 Gone Home, Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, Masterton, New Zealand

Selected Bibliography

Bell, Leonard. Anxious images. Art NZ; 1984; 32: 34-37
Blackley, Roger. The 4th Biennale of Sydney: New Zealanders in Australia. Art NZ; 1982; 24: 26-28
Bogle, Andrew. Three New Zealand photographers (catalogue). Auckland City Art Gallery; 1979
Photo-Forum supplement; Spring 1979; 3:4
Bosworth, Rhondda. Peter Peryer. Zoom; Dec/Jan 1978; 6O-61
Elliott, Tom. For your pleasure. Photo-Forum; Aug/Sept 1976; 33: 17-18
Hutchins, Tom. Three New Zealand photographers. Art NZ; 1979; 14: 17-19
Hutchins, Tom. Photo-Forum; Aug/Sept 1976; 33: 18
Ireland, Peter. The significance of repetition. Art NZ; 1984; 31: 3435
Johnston, Alexa.Anxious images (catalogue). Auckland City Art Gallery; 1984:5358
Keith, Sheridan. Frontierland: the photographs of Peter Peryer. London magazine; July 1981; 21 (4): 42 49
Keith, Sheridan. A desire to understand. NZ Listener; 7 Feb 198 1: 36-37
Keith, Sheridan. The Chelsea project Art NZ; 1985; 34: 18-21
Peryer, Peter. Photo-Forum; Dec/Jan 1976; 29: 10-15
Peryer, Peter. Gone home. Mars Hotel. Photo-Forum; Aug/Sept 1976; 33: 14-17
Peryer, Peter. Mars Hotel. Spleen; 1977; 7: np
Peryer, Peter. Portfolio in Osman, Colin and Turner, Peter ed. Creative camera international year book 1978. London: COO Press; 1977: 1 13-123
Peryer, Peter (interviewed by editors Art NZ). Peter Peryer: the photograph as a portrait of the self Art NZ; NOV/Dec/Jan 1977/78; 8 : 25, 65-67.
Peryer, Peter (interviewed by Jim Barr). Peter Peryer. The Photo-Forum Supplement; Summer 1977/78; i: 9-15
Rowe, Neil. Wellington. Art NZ; Nov/Dec/Jan 1977; 8: 18
Peter Peryer: A Careful Eye, Lower Hutt: The Dowse Art Museum, 2014. ISBN 9780987668547
Peter Simpson, Peter Peryer : photographer, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2008. ISBN 9781869404178
Silver / Peter Peryer, photographs : Bill Manhire, poem, Whanganui: McNamara Gallery, 2006. ISBN 0958272417
Greg Burke, The left hand raised : photographs, 1995–2001, New Plymouth: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, 2001. ISBN 0908848390
Justin Paton, Erika : a portrait / by Peter Peryer, Dunedin: Dunedin Public Art Gallery, 2001. ISBN 0908910231
David Maskill, After Rembrandt by Peter Peryer, Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, 1999. ISBN 0958211248
Charles Eldredge, At home and away : recent photographs, Whanganui: Sarjeant Art Gallery, 1997.
Greg Burke, Second nature : Peter Peryer, Zurich: Edition Stemmle, 1995. ISBN 3905514567
Peter Peryer: Photographs, Whanganui: The Sarjeant Art Gallery, 1985.
Barr, Jim ‘Peter Peryer’ Photo-Forum Supplement 1 Summer, Wellington, New Zealand 1977/78 pp9-15 (interview)
Barr, Jim and Mary Barr Peter Peryer Sarjeant Art Gallery Wanganui, New Zealand 1985
Blackman, Gary ‘The photographic experience’ Photo-Forum Supplement 3 Spring, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 p5
Vision in Disbelief: The 4th Biennale of Sydney Art Gallery of New South Wales Sydney, Australia 1982 p81
Bogle, Andrew Three New Zealand Photographers Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ‘Three New Zealand Photographers’ Photo-Forum Supplement 3 Spring 1979 p4
Bosworth, Rhondda ‘Peter Peryer: In a constant state of change’ Snaps News 3, Auckland, New Zealand 1978 p2 (interview)
Burke, Gregory Imposing Narratives: Beyond the documentary in recent New Zealand photography Wellington City Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand 1989 pp!3, 62-67
Curnow, Wystan ‘New Zealand art – where in the world is it?’ New Zealand Listener April 3 1982 pp34-35
Elias, Ann ‘Peter Peryer’ Art New Zealand 53 Summer 1989-90 p80
Elias, Ann ‘Wide ranging images’ New Zealand Listener March 8 1986 pp34
Eldredge, Charles C. Pacific Parallels San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego U.S.A 1991 pp47-48, 50
Fraser, Ross ‘Peter Peryer: The photograph as a portrait of the self Art New Zealand 8 November/December 1977 pp25, 65, 67
Headlands – Thinking through New Zealand art Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia 1991 pp46, 72
Hurrell, John ‘The New Zealand work in the fourth biennale of Sydney’ The Bulletin of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery – Supplement Christchurch, New Zealand July/August 1982
Hutchins, Tom Photo-Forum 33 August/September, Wellington, New Zealand 1976 pi 8
International Photography 1920-1980 National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 1982
Ireland, Peter ‘The Significance of repetition’ Art New Zealand 32 1 984 pp34-35
Johnston, Alexa Anxious Images: Aspects of recent New Zealand art Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand 1984 p53-58
Keith, Sheridan ‘Frontier-land – The Photographs of Peter Peryer’ London Magazine 21 (4) July 1981 p42-49
‘Ten Images’ Lone/on Magazine July 1990
‘The Chelsea Project’ Art New Zealand 34 1985 ppl8-21
‘A desire to understand’ New Zealand Listener February 7 1981 p36-37
Kelly, Desmond ‘The new image: Twelve contemporary photographers’ Art New Zealand 13 1979 p61
Main, William and J B Turner New Zealand Photography since 1840 Photo-Forum, Wellington, New Zealand 1993 pp68-69
Me by Myself: The self-portrait National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand 1982
‘Peter Peryer’ Creative Camera International Yearbook 1978 London pp113-123
‘Peter Peryer’ Photo-Forum 29 December, Wellington, New Zealand 1975 pp10-15 (portfolio with statement)
‘Peter Peryer’ Photo-Forum 33 August/September, Wellington, New Zealand 1976 pp14-17 (portfolio with statement)
‘Peter Peryer’ Spleen 7, Auckland, New Zealand 1977 pp8-13 (portfolio)
Spens, Michael ‘Monet not Maori: Art in New Zealand’ Studio International 198 (1010) 1985 pp50-51
The Active Eye Manawatu Art Gallery Palmerston North, New Zealand 1975 pp82-83
Turner, John ‘New Zealand photography since 1945’ Printletter 23 4:5 September/October, Zurich 1979 pp14-18
Tweedie, Merylyn ‘Feminist issues in New Zealand art {with particular reference to imaging of the nude female/the naked woman)’ AGMANZ Journal 17(1) Autumn 1986 pp11-12
Views/Exposures: Ten contemporary New Zealand photographers National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand 1982 pp96-105
Wedde, Ian ‘A Shark in Time’ Midwest 1 Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand 1992 p19

Selected Publications

Peter Peryer Photographs, Sarjeant Gallery, Wanganui, 1985
Second Nature, Edition Stemmle, Zurich, 1995
Erika: A Portrait by Peter Peryer, Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, 2001
The Left Hand Raised: Peter Peryer Photographs 1995-2001, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, 2001
www.peryer.co.nz, McNamara Gallery: Photography, Wanganui, 2003
Peter Peryer Photographer, Auckland University Press, 2008
Peter Peryer: A Careful Eye, The Dowse Art Museum, 2014

Public Collections

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Auckland, New Zealand
Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Paris, France
Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Christchurch, New Zealand
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin, New Zealand
Hocken Pictorial Collection, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, Wanganui, New Zealand
The University of Auckland Art Collection, Auckland, New Zealand
University of Canterbury Art Collection, Christchurch, New Zealand
Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, Wellington, New Zealand
Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand