Bonnie Moss of Alamance County with Leonard Nimoy at the MASS MoCA museum in North Adams, Mass.. In 2010. Moss obtained her first Nimoy photograph at age 15 and met him in 1979.

By Michael D. Abernethy / Times-News

As the world says goodbye to iconic cultural figure Leonard Nimoy, North Carolinians will have the opportunity to reflect on his life and work at a career-spanning exhibition of his photography coming to Alamance County in May.

On the Other Side of the Lens: The Photography of Leonard Nimoy will feature more than 30 years of his work. It opens May 1 and will be on display through July 15 at Alamance Arts, at 213 S. Main St., Graham.

More than 30 pieces are being donated from the R. Michelson Galleries in Northampton, Mass., which houses the bulk of Nimoys photographic work, and nine more pieces are coming from the personal collection of Burlington resident Bonnie Moss.

Moss knew Nimoy, and in 2010 helped sponsor one of his photography exhibitions in Massachusetts. Last year, she arranged for the Alamance Arts exhibition through the R. Michelson Galleries, Nimoy and the local Wooten Family Fund.

People dont realize what a well-respected photographer he was, Moss said. Were probably one of the smaller venues his work has been shown in. He has work in New York City, Los Angeles and New Orleans. Were in some good company there.

Moss a licensed clinical social worker with Hospice and Palliative Care of Alamance-Caswell became aware of Nimoy as most of the world did, through his legendary portrayal of Mr. Spock on Star Trek. She continued to follow him through the other facets of his career, purchasing her first of his photographs at age 15 through a fan club.

She first met him in 1979 and would have occasion to keep in touch with him over the next three-and-a-half decades, finally coming to know him as a friend. In June, she was invited to attend the ceremony during which Nimoy received an honorary Emmy Award for acting.

In 2010, she sponsored the exhibition of his photography series, Secret Selves, for which Nimoy asked people to portray their inner fantasies in front of his camera. Through that experience, Moss posed for his lens as a bride. Shes never married. She keeps the photo at her home.

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Retrospective of Nimoys photography coming to Alamance Arts this spring