Impressions of the Tilligerry
by Christopher John
Christopher John has been photographing people and landscapes in the Hunter Region for over 40 years.
He found his passion for photography in the mid 1970’s and by the late 70’s had become the youngest ever president of the Newcastle Photographic Society, the Hunter’s oldest camera club with many great amateur photographer members who were very willing to share their knowledge and experience with a young enthusiastic photographer.
In the early 1984 Christopher took over Model Studios in Maitland. Model Studios was the Hunter’s oldest established photographic studio specialising in traditional studio photography. Christopher took the business in a different direction by taking up the challenge to specialise in location wedding and portrait photography by utilizing available light rather than flash to create moody & emotive images primarily in outdoor locations.
In the 1980’s, this style of photography was not widely appreciated or used and Christopher received criticism for this innovative style at the time but he persevered, finding locations for weddings, individual and family portraits that raised eyebrows from passer-by’s but the results spoke for themselves and soon he was photographing weddings and portraits right across the Hunter Valley.
In the late 1980’s he moved his studio to home and dropped studio photography altogether to specialize exclusively in location and outdoor photography. In the late 1990’s he opened Imaging by Christopher John in King St. Newcastle, right next door to the Tower Cinemas. He was a regular visitor to Nobbys and Newcastle Beaches photographing families and children, also raising money for the John Hunter Children’s Hospital Research Foundation though his popular Kool Kids Calendar.
Christopher retired from people photography in 2004 to pursue other business interests. This has allowed him to turn his photographic passion towards his first photographic love of landscape photography.
After moving to Lemon Tree Passage in 2017, Christopher turned his passion for landscapes towards the beauty that surrounds us at every turn along the Tilligerry Peninsula, wanting to showcase the area by focussing in on scenes and angles not obvious to the casual observer.
The images you see here portrayed in both wall enlargements, photo books and a financial year Calendar, are the culmination of 3 years of photographing the Tilligerry.
Christopher believes that here in these images presented to you at the Tilligerry Arts Group he has captured both the beauty and character of the area and hopes that you too are inspired to take a walk and appreciate what we have here right in our doorstep.
You are also welcome to purchase and image, book, custom cushion cover for your home knowing that you have not only brought a little of the beauty of the Tilligerry into your home but have purchased a unique piece of art.
