Our Spring 2019 print sale is a little unusual in that Chester Williams, the photographer, is a TOP reader I didn't know at all before he submitted his picture to one of our "group shows," the so-called Baker's Dozens. I don't know if there's any such thing as a "typical" TOP reader...to paraphrase Garrison Keillor, all TOP readers are strong, good-looking and above average! But he was just a regular reader whose name I didn't recognize.
So I asked him if he'd write about himself by way of introduction. Here's what he sent me:
"I was born on the tiny Caribbean island of St Lucia. My early years were spent enjoying the outdoors, thanks to my father, the late Boswell Williams [a former Governor-General of the Commonwealth Realm of St. Lucia, the sovereign island nation's highest political office—see the postage stamp. —Ed.]. My dad bought me my first camera at nine, and this resulted in a profound love, not only for my island, but for nature in general. My brother and I spent hours shooting, developing and contact printing the 120-size (6x6cm) frames, as enlargers were not available on the island.
"After graduating from junior college on the island, I was set to follow a career in banking, and was employed at the Royal Bank of Canada. Three years later, my parents, afraid that their son would not amount to much, shipped me off to pursue a degree in business from Arizona State University. Upon graduation, I got married, moved to Los Angles, and began working downtown for a major bank. Always having a camera, and shooting extensively, especially at Venice Beach, I went on a week-long camping trip to Yosemite National Park and was emotionally awakened to the possibilities of pursuing photography as a side career. Many of the images I shot there were bought by my fellow staff members after they saw them displayed on my cubicle walls.
"Fast forward to a few years later, the early 1990s. By now having a two-year-old daughter, I was eager to have her raised in the islands. My wife and I accomplished that in 1991 by moving back to St Lucia. In 1992, while working a 9–5 job, I decided to pursue photography full-time after winning two Gold medals at a prestigious art completion on the island. My phone began to ring. In total, I eventually won six Gold medals before I retired from competing.
"Over the years, I did commercial work, calendars, weddings, aerial photography, etc., for a paycheck, but my passion was always landscape and nature photography, which I did on weekends. I was fortunate to have my work printed in such publications as Hello magazine, Bride magazine, and several others over the years, but that came to an end after health issues forced me to cut back on my commercial work.
"More recently, I have been actively involved in sharing my work online and have had several images chosen for inclusion in prestigious Facebook group galleries such as Pure Street Photography. I've been involved in many art exhibitions over the years and regularly sell my work both as loose prints and as framed pieces."
One possible disadvantage of having print sales by "regular readers" is something Chester told me that I didn't foresee...he said he's been very worried about this sale, anxious it might "not sell any" and that he would disappoint you (and me). I told him that's not the way it is...we do this for fun and enthusiasm, not because it's always a good way to make money (sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't). If one person loves and treasures a print they get from us, or if someone buys original artwork who never has before, or if a couple of people have a nice experience giving and getting a photograph as a gift, then that's good enough for me.
So big thanks to Chester for allowing us to yank him into the spotlight.
Mike
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Hi Mike,
I enjoyed the post about Chester Williams, and his interesting background. I hope his print sale does well, and I wish him luck.
But it triggered something in a corner of my brain’s memory bank. There was a bakers dozen that I don’t think I saw. The museum category. Was that ever posted? I it was early April that you launched it.
Fred
Posted by: Fred Haynes | Saturday, 18 May 2019 at 02:41 PM