Irene Froy Obituary

Photography was Irene’s life and it’s unthinkable to imagine she is no longer here in our photographic world. A unique, kind-hearted Scottish lady, who endeared herself to so many, like a favourite Aunt, someone who left behind a phenomenal pictorial legacy, having put heart and soul into all she achieved. Sadly her heart ran out of time on May 15th this year.

What her family, particularly sister Jean, and all those who knew her will remember most is the spirited unforgettable Irene. Despite the inevitable grief and sorrow we cannot help but feel, we ought to celebrate Irene, the utter devotion she and Gerry shared and a life well lived. This is farewell, this sadly is her leaving. Time now to give in to the memory of Irene’s considerable virtue and stature in the sphere of photography, and the extraordinary grace she carried herself with despite health and mobility problems in later years. What else should we say of Irene – well, you’ll recall the carefully coiffured auburn hair, the floral dresses, a mellow smile behind her ‘hallmark’ bifocals, that different rhythm of her Fife accent with its sharp oral posture and above all her selfless benevolence to others. And my, speaking as someone who enjoyed her hospitality on a number of occasions, could she cook!

Her involvement in photography was absolute; A Presidential role in the East Anglian Federation, the conventions she organised in that region, and later her time at Wrekin Arts and in the Eyecon group. In parallel with that there were golden years of exhibition acceptances, also Irene’s invitation for membership of The London Salon, of which she was justifiably proud. Other awards followed – her Masters award in the PAGB, being attributed Hon PAGB status and receiving the Lancaster Medal and those RPS days when she rightfully gained her Fellowship.

Let’s look back awhile – Irene was born 81 years ago in Anstruther, Fife. Her first brush with photography, aged 11 was in Pittenweem, helping a local photographer. In her teens she joined Dundee Photographic Society, putting her youth in her future. This was an era of colour transparencies, and some monochrome printing in a make-shift darkroom in the garden shed. A website snapshot is testament to those days – a delightful picture of a young effervescent Irene in an AA uniform, early working life in Dundee.

Fast forward to 1966, enter the indomitable Gerry, her much loved and revered husband. Moving South, they set up home in Balmoral Road, Hitchin, joined Shillington Camera Club and helped it succeed in so many ways through some 38 years. I’ve no real certainty here, but I think her day job was in admin for BT. Gerry was always by her side until 2022, when he sadly left this planet. They had 56 years together. It was Gerry who lugged chemicals and buckets of water into the loft Darkroom, back in her master-class Cibachrome days. He chauffeured her through Europe on numerous trips and answered frequently to the word STOP when the chance of a photo appeared by the roadside. He responded to her calls for equipment ‘ Gerry, the wide -angle!’ was one I remember her mentioning when she spoke of these episodes and travels to clubs. Lecturing was her forte, the wheels kept on turning, she travelled the UK and Eire relentlessly. Permajet supported her for over 20 years. These presentations were always illustrated with her bespoken prints in all their octaves of stillness and silence. Those pictures captured the intimacy of France, the shifting moods of Andalucía and Tuscany, with all her trademark mesmerising ambience. Hers was an utterly distinctive photographic vision, seen in a number of self-published books. That ‘style’ was fashioned specifically by Irene, a signature, drawn from diaphanous light that immersed each picture in pastel colours that danced across her favourite rag papers. Beguiling, gauzy imagery, treated with those muted painterly effects she courted by using the famed ‘Defroyser’ soft focus filter. Hers was an emotive artist’s eye, slightly surreal, a tangential voice, expressive compositions with evocatively phrased atmospherics, which spoke to us like the dreamy luminosity of long lost summer days.

Irene coloured the lives of all who knew her, and despite her sad passing, make time to wander through and lean on those memories you all hold of this remarkable lady. It has been said ‘There was only one Irene’. How true. How fitting too that her last day was spent chatting about pictures with members of the Eyecon group. We will remember her with affection, with continued delight in her pictures and thank our lucky stars we were fortunate to be in her orbit.

Leigh Preston