
It's the tiny town with a population of just 120 people where there is next to no power, internet, or jobs- where time almost stands still.

Tucked away on the banks of the Mangaroa River in the North Island of New Zealand, more than 40 kilometres from civilisation and only accessible by a dirt path, is the town of Ohura.

An enclave of low-cost truck homes and ancient shops that rarely open, Ohura has all but been abandoned by the government, leaving the dwindling town- and the people who live there- to their own devices.

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Photographer Tony Carter spent a year photographing the residents of the tiny village of Ohura, in New Zealand's North Island, producing a stunning series of images called 'Another World: Portraits from Ohura'

Many of the houses have no power, only a few have internet, and government benefits are unavailable because there are no jobs to look for- even the prison has closed down.

Photographer Tony Carter, a portrait and wedding photographer by trade, decided to go off the beaten path- quite literally- to spend a year capturing the lives of the tight-knit and colourful community to understand what made those who remain so determined to stay.

Tony, who had a 'very rural upbringing' himself, has spent almost 20 years seeking the different in his home country of New Zealand, and decided to explore the dwindling town after witnessing the surrounding region dwindle from what was a thriving epicentre built around a strong mining industry to a veritable 'ghost town'.

'When I'm not photographing people for my job I enjoy searching out people on the edges of society, people who don't necessarily want to be seen,' Tony told Daily Mail Australia.

Driving more than 160 kilometres from his home and fuelled by 'pure curiosity', Tony arrived at the township early one morning without really knowing what he would find.

'There weren't many people around, just a secondhand store. I walked in and it wasn't really open, there were just a few locals in there having a chat,' Tony said.

'I asked to photograph them and they were quite obliging, and told me about a woman called Hazel Wilson who was in her late 80's and was still riding around on a pushbike seeing to stock,' he said.

'She was such a character and I just thought to myself that I had to carry on with this.'

Hazel, the local Justice of the peace, has lived in Ohura all of her life. She is now in her late eighties and still rides a bike around in order to tend to her stock

Denis is one of the many local characters Tony met, and was photographed in his 'banquet room'

The 48-year-old, from Taranaki, said he drove back out to Ohura three times in that first week, and quickly became addicted to searching out people in the community to talk to and photograph.

While Tony was named New Zealand Photographer of the Year in 2010, he said that he had always wanted to become entrenched in a single project.

'This was the first time I was really able to sink my teeth into a project. It was very real- I knew there was a story there but I just didn't know what that story was yet,' Tony said.

Over the next year, Tony visited Ohura more than 30 times to explore the area, meet the locals, and capture a side of small-town New Zealand which he said was 'dying'.

'The people that I first ran into were so honest with themselves, and so open when they didn't really seem to have much,' Tony said.

'While I was really attracted to the town right from the beginning, I thought it was probably just a pocket of people who were like that, but the more I dug into it and started to research Ohura the more I understood why it was dying- and it was dying, a dying town.'

According to government sources, coal mines were a major industry for the town from the 1930's, developing into a major township over the next 40 years .

Julie, one of the women Tony met while visiting Ohura, works part-time at the local refuse centre in town

Norm (pictured with most of his children at back of group) relocated to Ohura from Auckland, and is the father of a large family

When the state-owned mines closed down in the early 1970's, a large proportion of the town's businesses and services closed down as well, with more closing after the last mine shut down in 1990.

Following a reported loss of more than 500 people from the surrounding region back in 2005, locals claim that the government is trying to push the remaining few out for good, reported The New Zealand Herald.

Tony said that because of it's colourful history, the community is made up of a 'real mix of characters'.

'At first it did really puzzle me why people stayed. Some people have been there a long time, and some have come from the cities because of their lifestyle choices and just not being able to afford living there,' he said.

'They found a community that's accepting and a sense of belonging.'

Determined to capture what life was really like in the community, Tony decided to use film rather than take the photographs digitally, and said that some days when he visited he didn't take any photos.

'I wanted to go slowly, and look for an image, and set it up and take it, almost like a still life of people,' he said.

'It was a bit like fishing, you have to be patient.'

While many in the community were quick to trust him, Tony said that many of the locals were wary of his motives and that he had to build up a relationship with them before he was able to take their picture.

Frank (pictured with two of his dogs) is living in retirement in Ohura, which offers little in the way of job opportunities

Liz (pictured), was one of the first people that Tony met when he visited Ohura. She was photographed outside her shop that never opens

Sandra, a local woman who Tony photographed with no top on, agreed to be photographed within half an hour of meeting him- though others were less forthcoming.

'Some people thought I might have been an undercover policeman, and I had people go through my car on a couple of occasions, but I guess I understand that,' Tony said.

'Right from the start I told them that this is what I did for a living, but what I was doing there wasn't to make money, it was to show people how they lived,' he said.

'One or two had internet access so they were able to look me up and check out my website. I actually had one or two turn up at my studio.'

Tony said that one of the people he met that stood out to him was one man who lived in the hills just outside of Ohura who he had been told about by some of the locals.

'He lived in a little building with no power, and the first time I went there he wasn't there and a goose walked out. The second time he was there, leaning over his balcony and before I had even opened my mouth he told me to f*** off,' he said.

'I decided to go back after speaking with the locals and finding out that he was an animal lover. This time I got out of the car and just started talking a lot faster about animals so he could see I was alright, and was very friendly and obliging,' Tony said.

'I was doing a solo exhibition and took the curator with me to visit him so she could write about it and he happened to be driving behind us and had a rifle because he'd been hunting. She was pretty shocked because he's quite an intimidating-looking person, but he wasn't hunting us!'.

Ross, who is, by his own admission, is a 'retired horticulturist'. He has lived in a house truck for 18 years

Sam (pictured above), one of the 120 people living in Ohura, lives in a house truck with a lounge

Tony has debuted the photographs from the photo series, 'Another World: Portraits from Ohura', in an exhibition which he hopes will display the lives of those who live in the community while respecting them.

'I didn't want it to feel like a derogatory view, I didn't want the people of Ohura to feel like I was taking advantage of them or belittling them,' Tony said.

'I wanted to show them respect, which was really important to me. A lot of people have said that I've have captured them but still have kept their dignity,' he said.

Tony said that the biggest story for him from the images is that people are migrating to big cities, meaning that small-town New Zealand is slowly disappearing.

'It's sad that the government is letting these places fall apart and slowly making the power more expensive and choking the community, cutting off the water from people who have the lowest incomes in New Zealand,' he said.

The 'Another World: Portraits from Ohura' series is currently being exhibited at the Puke Raiki gallery, and has been hand-selected by a fellow New Zealander living in Beijing, John B Turner, to be part of the Pingyao International Photo Festival in China.

Tony is keen to continue showing the series both locally and internationally to allow others to experience a small snapshot of the lives of those in Ohura.

'In a way for me it was almost like a bit of a dream-like thing being there,' he said.

'On the surface everybody seemed quite happy, like it was an oasis, a happy place for them. But that's just the surface, so who knows?'.

Paul (pictured) has lived in a house truck in Ohura since the early 80’s after moving to the town from Auckland. Paul is known in Ohura as 'Mr Aerodynamic', and cycles 48 kilometres to the town of Tamaranui to buy his groceries



