Long considered to be one of New Zealand’s leading landscape photographers, Matheson Beaumont has been photographing the landscapes of the South Island of New Zealand for the past 40 years and making photographs for 70 years. During this time he built up a body of work that is recognised for its integrity and sense of place.
His photographs are held in public collections in the USA, Brazil, Singapore, China and in the UK in the National Museum of Photography Film & Television, The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and the Hocken Collection of the University of Otago. Privately his work is held in collections in the UK, Australia, USA, Germany, Canada and Japan.
In 2006 he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to photography and the community. He is an Hon. Fellow of the Photographic Society of New Zealand, a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain and was elected a Fellow of the Photographic Society of America in 1974.
An Optometrist by profession, he practiced photography as an avocation and after retiring in 2001 gave himself completely to the medium which was his love since he was a high school student. In 1975 he was presented with the Otago Visual Arts Award by the City of Dunedin and, is the only Australasian photographer to be awarded the prestigious Fenton Medal from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. In 2005 he was elected an Hon. Life Member of the Royal Photographic Society.
His work has been published in many books and magazines, and a retrospective collection of his landscapes entitled Chasing the Southern Light was published by Longacre Press in 2006. Institutions that have exhibited his photography include:
• The Royal Photographic Society (Bath, UK)
• The Australian Photographic Society
• The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
• The Otago Museum
• The Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru
• The Forrester Gallery, Oamaru
• The Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin
• The Left Bank Gallery, Greymouth
• The Australian Photographic Society
• The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts
• The Otago Museum
• The Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru
• The Forrester Gallery, Oamaru
• The Marshall Seifert Gallery, Dunedin
• The Left Bank Gallery, Greymouth
In January this year, Matheson moved from his Sandringham St home of 59 years to a Frances Hodgkins 7th floor apartment, with a view that his photographer’s eye must truly appreciate. During the move, Matheson and his daughter Louise uncovered a number of interesting early works from a highly successful 70 years creating beautiful photographs.
With a few Cibachromes and black and whites, this exhibition includes works covering a variety of genres including portrait, travel, architecture and documentary. Several abstracts reveal just a little of Matheson’s quirky sense of humour.