John - the photographer
“Fanfare Photography” was formed just three years ago but John has been working casually as a professional freelance photographer for many years.
The passion for photography was born at the age of 9 in 1947 when he unearthed a Brownie Box camera from an old trunk in the attic of his parents’ home in England. This camera, he was told, had accompanied his parents when as a young couple they hiked through Austria and Germany in 1936, staying in youth hostels. Along with the camera were boxes of 2" x 3" black and white photos on glossy paper with crinkle cut edges. The photos included images of his parents and their group of hikers, Austrian mountain landscapes and photos of marching Hitler Youth.
With Paper route money, Film was purchased and the Brownie was pressed into service once more. John learned by trial and error how to coach people-pleasing snap shots from the Brownie. He had an early appreciation of the importance of posing and backgrounds even while taking candid snapshots. But a nine year old budding photographer with a passion can devour film at a high rate and processing costs were a limiting factor in post war England. Ever resourceful and persistent, he acquired developing tanks and trays and thermometers along with developer and fixer chemicals. Printing frames for making contact prints from the large negatives were sought and found. Most of the equipment was second hand or gifted from older photographers, and mostly broken. John made repairs and was soon in business developing and printing films for friends and relatives for cash to supplement his paper route earnings. Every penny earned was used to buy more paper and chemicals and equipment to keep the cottage industry going. The joy of just doing photography was the ultimate reward. He was 10 years old.
He pursued his passion for photography through his secondary education and college in England, always managing to turn his talent into extra cash. In 1962, after graduating from college with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering he met Gillian. She clearly remembers him as “that guy who always carries a camera ‘round his neck”. John spent three years in France and during this time dated Gillian long distance from Toulouse. John married Gillian in 1965 and took her back to France with him. They immigrated to the USA on the tail end of the aerospace “Brain Drain” in September 1966, he was 27 she was 21. Photography continued to be an important part of John’s life and he continued to successfully garner freelance photo assignments from varied sources to generate extra income.
Since the Brownie box there have been many cameras. Most are still in working condition and are pressed into use from time to time. Over the years color print technology emerged and recently the personal computer has lead to the development of digital photography. John is a typical “early adopter” and stays up to date with new photographic technologies as they emerge. He has retired from engineering and has embarked on a new career and is now able to indulge his passion for photography on a full time basis.
Today he mainly works with digital imaging. Medium format film cameras are used on occasion and the color negatives or positives are scanned to produce large digital files for printing. The principal imaging equipment is comprised mainly of 35mm Nikon professional cameras, both digital and film. More importantly, a large stable of Nikons’ flagship lenses is the essential basis for the high quality images that John produces.
Technically, the tools of photography have evolved far from the days of the Brownie box camera, but creating beautiful images is still more art than science. John has evolved as well - he still feels that the joy of just doing photography is as rewarding as it was when he was 10 years old, but today he strives to make every image a masterpiece.
