He inserts ubiquitous rural architecture, often in front of fanfare skies, to create a vision of the New Zealand landscape that, while recognisable, does not, in reality exist. These scenes are peopled with characters, costumed and posed, whose internal life seems at odds with their external reality. They appear dislocated and feel, perhaps, much as the early pioneers may have felt on first arrival, thus the title: This Pioneering Life.