John Whitmore RIP

[ChrisR]

A few of you on here may know of John Whitmore, @thedarkshed here and on twitter. I heard via twitter this morning that he had died suddenly: View: https://BANNED/sunny16podcast/status/1455647391558901763


I think @stevelmx5 probably knew him better, with joint activities at the Photography Show for example. I met John quite a few times. On the first occasion we met at his Dark Shed, in the garden of his house near Coventry, as part of Warwickshire Open Studios, and he led me through the process of making a 8x10 wet print of a favourite negative. In truth, he did most of the work, and I love the result. What was supposed to be an hour or so extended to 5 hours; that was typical of his generosity. On a subsequent occasion I briefly met Anne-Marie, his partner, then heavily pregnant with their daughter Hannah.

John wasn't very active on TP, his last posting was in June 2019. But he was very active locally, in the Coventry art scene. Some of you might also have seen some of his "DarkShed Live" videos. He was one of the few photographers I know of supporting himself and his family solely through his analogue photography.

This is a tragedy, and I am really shocked. Heartfelt condolences to Anne-Marie and his wider family.

 

[medwaygreen]

That is so sad to hear, my sincere condolences to his family.

 

[sirch]

That's terrible news, my sincere condolences.

 

[stevelmx5]

Thanks for creating this thread Chris. I’m still in shock at John’s sudden passing, and trying to get my head around it. I posted this on Instagram last night;

I first met John Whitmore in person at the March 2019 U.K. Photography Show, when I joined him with the rest of the analogue community for a meet-up. Having only ever spoken to John via email before then, after he very kindly backed my Kickstarter campaign for his bright red Chroma, I was immediately greeted by a friendly, kind and welcoming man who I spent the rest of day talking cameras, film and all things photography.

Later on in 2019, John and Anne-Marie kindly opened their doors to the analogue community, and welcomed us all to their home for the day. As well as catching up with old friends from the community, John and Anne-Marie also gave us all the opportunity to make new friends. John spent the majority of the day teaching everyone, myself included, how to print in his “Dark Shed”. He spent the day teaching us all, answering hundreds of questions, and recording much of the day for a podcast episode. Having never been in a darkroom before, I’ll be forever grateful for the time John gave me that day, and for the time we all got to spend with him.

The last time I spoke to John was at this years’ UK Photography Show 5 weeks’ ago where, as one of the newest members of the Sunny 16 team, he spent the day recording video, along with interviewing us all with Graeme after the show. As ever, the interview was a mix of genuinely useful information and a group of friends just having a laugh. If I’d known that it would be the last time I’d speak to him, I’d probably still be talking now.

Thanks for everything John, you’ll be massively missed by us all, and the Chroma Family is worse off without you.

 

[Harlequin565]

Simply tragic.

 

[wibbly]

OMG, what awful news. I'd met John a couple of times on film meet ups, a really nice guy. So sad for his family.

 

[MrDrizz]

This is terribly sad. Such a young man too.

 

[ChrisR]

Ilford have reminded us of the interview they did with John a year or so ago...

In Focus - John Whitmore

John Whitmore is a 'sometimes' event and black and white documentary photographer, a Darkshed owner, darkroom printer, YouTuber and Sunny16 podcaster.

www.ilfordphoto.com

 

[RaglanSurf]

Sad news indeed, he will be very much missed.

 

[desf]

So sad..

 

[Gazz55]

So sad R I P

 

[ChrisR]

Not sure if this is allowed (Mods please delete if not) but Sunny 16 Podcast are helping sell off John's photographic gear to help his wife and baby daughter. There'll be more coming... View: https://BANNED/sunny16podcast/status/1485011301885747203

 

[VirtualAdept]

Oh that is terrible news