Tony Mead LRPS

Tony joined PBPS in 1987 and remained a stalwart member up to the date he passed away  – a total of 38 years.

He wrote in an article for our in house magazine “Wide Angle” that he was encouraged to take up photography at the tender age of fifteen by his two older brothers when he was given a box camera similar to a Brownie.  The passion never left him and nature photography became his favourite subject.  After joining PBPS he commenced entering competitions with great success and eventually gained his Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society in the 1990s.  He never did darkroom work and initially relied on trade processed prints but all that changed with the advent of digital imaging and from 2002 he submitted his own prints and became very adept on the computer.

Although Tony joined two other camera clubs at various times in his career his support for PBPS never wavered.  He served on the committee many times over the years usually as exhibition secretary or publicity secretary but what really set him apart was his ability to build our specialist equipment.  He constructed our first set of exhibition screens which served us well for many years and more recently designed and constructed our illuminated print display easel.  I know he made ones for other clubs too.  With his building background we relied on him for all those things that needed repairing too as he had a knack of getting things to work.

He did not like to go on organised photographic trips and his independent streak led him to places like Fisher Green and nature reserves where he knew no one would bother him.  He also liked to take candid images locally in trips to Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Hatfield and Waltham Cross.  He had a great knowledge of motor vehicles and visited vintage vehicle shows where he came away with shots not just of old cars but of hot rods and motor cycles.

Tony used to like to sit quietly in a corner at our club but statistics show his number of attendances in any year were second to none.  When a picture of an insect was put up or a mushroom or the workings of a machine we all knew who had done it!  We will miss his pictures but especially we will miss him.

RIP

Tony accepting his trophy from Graham Coldrick in 2019

An example of Tony’s love of Chrome!

Insects and Flowers