As thanks for their sterling support of the Club and as a tribute to them and their photography we are showing here some pictures by Club members - stalwarts all - who have sadly died. (Obviously we do so with the permission of their next-of-kin, and only where we have some of their photos already.) They were, as one of our members said of them, “inspirational”.
Ron joined theCclub in 2010 and soon decided not to specialise in any one genre, but to try anything that took his fancy. That said, he did have a predilection towards the area of imaginative photography and was grateful for the Club's inclusion of an Imagination award in our competitions - which he won many times.
Experimentation, image processing and humour in photography gave him great fun and satisfaction. To do some of this, he said, a quick climb up the Photoshop learning curve was necessary, and we remember his many intricate montages that must have taken him many days. He was also one of the Club's regular volunteers photographing - very successfully - Kentish Opera's local productions.
Herbert joined the Club in 1995, and by 1997 he had stepped forward and taken on the role of General Secretary. He became our Chairman in 1999, a role he held until 2009, but he remained a member until his sad death in April 2023. A measure of the man and his commitment to Sevenoaks Camera Club was that it was only in the autumn of 2022 that he had once again stepped forward and taken on the role of Print Competition Secretary.
Herbert's time as Chairman coincided with the migration of the Club into the digital photography world, and he helped steer the acquisition of our first digital projector and to frame initial rules for digital competitione. He was contributing useful ideas to the Committee to the very end.
A few of his photos follow, about which he had said: I do not specialise but I particularly enjoy landscape photography and I like pictures with graphical impact".
Pat was a Club member for nearly 10 years before she sadly died in March 2022. She was one of those members who got on quietly with supporting the Club and she tried to make the most of her membership and expand her photography by joining in activities. She threw herself into a street photography workshop; joined our annual Team Challenge competitions, and was one of the winning team for the "Industrial" theme; accompanied our illustrious webmaster when we were the only two Sevenoaks members to join Tonbridge CC on their outing to Boulogne; and attended some of our own informal outings during the covid lockdown. Fittingly in November 2021 she won outright our 'avant garde' themed competition.
Perhaps most important of all, she was a nice lady whom we all miss.
With wife Marian, Edward was a member of Sevenoaks Camera Club from autumn 1984 until they both moved to Yorkshire in autumn 2016 to be nearer their family. Edward undertook many roles in the Club, including Vice Chairman, Chairman, Programme Secretary, both Slide and Print Competition Secretaries, and also served on the Selection Committee. (Marian was General Secretary for a time, and was one of the members who would always look out for and welcome potential new members to our meetings - actively supporting us was a family affair.) Sadly Edward died in autumn 2019 but we're keeping Edward's photos here as a memento and thank you.
We wish to pay tribute in words to Jon who sadly died in February 2018. He was our Honorary General Secretary for eight years until standing down in 2007. But no longer having a formal role or title did not stop Jon, together with his wife Nuala who was also a member, from helping out the Club in any ways he could. He always did this without fuss, simply getting on with it.
Thank you to another member who helped the Club immensely.
