At the opening of the photographic essay exhibition – Nasho ‘57: 98 Days at Pucka – at the Warrnambool Art Gallery on Saturday afternoon, three Warrnambool-based men who trained with Mr Suggett gazed at the photos of themselves taken 60 years earlier, in 1957.

Some of them had not seen one another since the training six decades ago.

Mr Suggett, now 79, grew up in Warrnambool and had his first photographs published when he was 15.

He said he came across the negatives recording the 98 days he spent training with the 14^th National Service Training Battlion again late last year.

“It was full-on because the first six weeks or so was basically boot camp sort of stuff,” he said.

“We were learning how to march, how to do everything else. Then the next half of it was in artillery.”

“I hadn’t been away from home before – none of us had.”

Mr Suggett said he didn’t have permission, but decided to make a photo essay recording the training.

He hasn’t cropped the negatives or made any attempts to cover up flaws in the photos.

Mr Suggett said he was happy to let the pictures speak for themselves, and it was wonderful to reunite with people he hadn’t seen for decades.

“Different people will get different things out of it,” he said.

“It really is a glimpse at a very different era.”

Bill McKenzie, 79, Bernie Schnerring, 79, and Bert McKinnon, 83, all found out about the exhibition after seeing a group photo published in The Standard in March after Mr Suggett put out a call for help identifying those in the image.

Minutes after meeting again after decades apart, the men were bantering and sharing memories.

They said it was a bittersweet feeling being reunited, particularly because at least seven men captured in the group shot of 18 had passed away.

Mr Schnerring said it was “terrific” to see the photos.

“It brings back a lot of memories,” he said.

The free exhibition will run until June 12.