Barry Doig

I was born in Wairoa and raised in Hastings. At age 14 my father, an amateur photographer, taught me to process my first film by hand in the kitchen sink. I later spent 5 years in the Navy and among other things worked as a film projectionist. At Victoria University of Wellington, I graduated in History, and trained as a Presbyterian minister. I was ordained in 1968, and in Southland, my interest in photography emerged. 

I bought my first single lens reflex camera and started photographing southern landscapes. Photography became, and still is, a wonderful recreation. I tramped around most of our National and Forest Parks always with a camera, and found that my photography integrated well with my ministry. Later I entertained audiences with Audio Visuals of New Zealand and places I visited overseas. I hiked through Yosemite National Park, Bryce Canyon, Zion, and the Grand Canyon. The Scottish Highlands and patchwork fields of Britain also captured my imagination, and later the stark landscape of Central Australia. My greatest hike was the Ball Pass crossing of Mt Cook. All captured on 35mm film. I joined the Photographic Society of New Zealand and found great inspiration in their Conferences, exhibitions and in various Camera Clubs.

In 1995 I was called to my last parish in Invercargill. A contented 60 year old bachelor, no thought of romance entered my mind. My caravan, full of cameras, projectors, tramping and ski gear, and books had no room for anyone else. I was taking a monthly service for non-Catholics in a local Catholic Rest Home and realised the pastoral care-worker on the staff wasn’t a nun. Barbara was a very pretty Baptist. My autofocus in overdrive, I checked the ISO (Is She Ok?) and something quickly developed. We married in 1996. A few years later I retired, and Barbara and I came to Nelson, where I bought my first digital camera.

I wanted to put back into the community something of what I’d learned. I joined Senior Net, and taught classes in Photoshop Elements and Paint.NET. In 1997 I was awarded the Fellowship of The Photographic Society of New Zealand, FPSNZ, for a folio of prints on the Nelson Cathedral. This year I was awarded the overseas distinction, Artist of the International Federation of Photographic Art, for 53 successes in 20 exhibitions in 13 countries. I’ve just launched my first book—The House at Appleby. (Remember the house in the field on Appleby straight?) You can read about it on Stuff at: http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/our-people/85523373/nelson-photographer-barry-doigimmortalises-appleby-farmhouse-in-book. If you’d like a copy of the book, at $35, give me a call on 547 7281 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 
(From Newsletter - November 2016)