The London Salon was saddened by the recent death of our valued member Colin New.
An obituary and a number of tributes from photographers who knew him are shown below:
Obituary by Erica Oram
Colin Heath New, 3rd Jan 1944 – 3rd Sept 2024
Colin hailed from the Portsmouth area but spent the later part of his working life and his retirement in South Yorkshire. His working life was spent in teaching in primary schools including many years as a primary school headteacher in Sheffield. In addition to his passion for photography he had passions for cricket, art, drama and music.
Colin gained his first acceptances into the London Salon of Photography Exhibition in 1987 and his first medal in 1994, being awarded three medals in total before being invited to become a member in 2000. Although he never held an official post for the Salon during his membership, he took his membership seriously and was always keen to promote the work of the London Salon and its Annual Exhibition to the many photographers and photography groups with which he interacted.
Colin presented his work widely to clubs throughout Yorkshire and the north Midlands for many years as a Fotospeed-sponsored lecturer, and was also a long-standing member of Gamma Fotoforum, acting as chair of the Yorkshire-based group during the period 1995-1997. Whilst Colin loved exhibiting his work both via presentations, and via taking part in those exhibitions which he saw as valuable, Colin disagreed the whole concept of competitive photography, pursuing no photographic awards and never even attending club competition nights, let alone entering them.
Instead Colin took his photography far beyond the quest for single successful photographs. Colin saw his photography very much as a means of communication and expression. He worked in panels and projects rather than in single images and often used those panels to illustrate his thoughts which he would narrate as he presented his print panels. He produced photography across many different genres from florals, to studio work with models, to travel and landscape.
Colin was a valued member of Sheffield Photographic Society for over 20 years, more latterly providing the society with an annual lecture based on his latest work. He also recommended numerous speakers and Annual Exhibition selectors to the society. It was these recommendations, often of fellow London Salon members, which certainly contributed significantly to the society both enjoying and producing more expressive, artistic and pictorial photography than is the norm at most clubs.
He was keen to promote support of the London Salon amongst the society, ensuring that the Salon Exhibition CD had a regular place in the society programme and taking this opportunity on an annual basis to give the society an insight into the London Salon’s history and ethos. He encouraged society members to enter the Exhibition, saving members’ postage costs by taking the group entry down to the Salon himself each year.
Most of all, Colin was a good friend to many photographers around the region and more locally. He always had a genuine interest in people and always looked to encourage and help others in any way he could, becoming a true inspiration to many along the way. He leaves a wife, Marion, two daughters and their families.
Peter Yeo
“I first met Colin New when I was asked to give a talk to Sheffield PS where he was a member. He was asked to give the ‘vote of thanks’ at the end of the evening but he declined as we had never met, he knew nothing about me and didn’t want to be forced to say ‘nice things’ when he really did not know my work and may not have liked what he saw. That is a measure of his honesty.
He subsequently invited me to join GAMMA Fotoforum, the northern forerunner of other similar groups, like Arena in the south of the country. For several years he and I met every few weeks to go out with our cameras to take photographs, visiting art galleries, museums and landscapes in Yorkshire or the Lincolnshire Wolds or coastal areas. I was always in awe of him and his photography as he saw and photographed things I failed to see even if we were only yards apart.
A couple of decades ago we were both invited to join Fotospeed as lecturers and, separately, enjoyed visiting camera clubs that might not otherwise have heard of us in far distant parts of Britain. The passage of time and increasing infirmity made us both withdraw from lecturing but he was still happy to get out and about to take pictures, though he increasingly chose drawing, in pencil and pastels, achieving what I saw as a pretty good standard – his “photographers eye” never left him. Colin made significant contribution to whatever he did – Sheffield PS, GAMMA and the London Salon will all be the poorer for his passing.”
Kenneth Breare
“I first met Colin in the 1990s, when he became a member of Gamma Photoforum, where I enjoyed his very different style of photography, and by 1995 he had quickly risen to become Gamma’s chairman.
Colin was very active in other photographic fields during that decade, winning three medals in the London Salon in 1994, 97, and 98. In 2000 The Salon elected him to membership.
For travelling to The Salon meetings from Yorkshire, Colin suggested that we should share the journey from Sheffield for the unpacking, selection days, and for the AGM. These journeys were spent with much discussion on photography, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Not only did we take our own prints to the unpacking, but Colin was such a great ambassador for The Salon that he used to persuade many members of his camera club, Sheffield PS, to enter, and often the box of prints from Sheffield was very heavy.
Colin had the ability to use his pictures to tell the most interesting stories, it was a rare gift that he had and he used it so well. I certainly rated him as one of the best photographic storyteller I have ever met. He was so prolific with his printing and I often asked him where he kept all the pictures that he produced, but I never really got an answer.
After making up his mind on an issue, there were no greys in Colin’s world and his determination to get things done was unparalleled. He was certainly responsible for proposing more than one person for Salon Membership.
Colin was indifferent to photographic distinctions, but I’m sure that, had he wanted a Fellowship, he would have had no difficulty getting one, but he just wasn’t interested in applying for one.
He once told me that once before a talk he was due to give at a photographic club, when he was at the entrance of the hall unloading his prints, when the chairman sent one of the members to ask him, what letters he had after his name, so that he could be correctly introduced – ‘He’s got nothing’ the man shouted back, in Colin’s hearing and it really amused Colin! But I have no doubt that that particular club enjoyed a very entertaining and educational presentation by a most gifted speaker!”
The London Salon of Photography 