Wednesday 16 October 2013

60 SECOND INTERVIEW: Keith Lander


KEITH Lander was born and educated in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, and has lived all over the UK and around the world following a career in the gas industry, running pipeline construction project at home and abroad. He and his wife, who have recently celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary, retired to Dorset 16 years ago and now live in Charmouth. They have two grown up daughters. Keith has recently taken on the chairmanship of Lyme Bay Photographic Club, based in Lyme Regis.

HOW did you first become involve with Lyme Bay Photographic Club?
I had served as a parish councillor in Charmouth which takes up an awful lot of one’s time. Having always been interested in photography and having time to fill I saw an article in View From Lyme Regis reporting on an earlier club meeting. The article ended with a contact telephone to call for information and advice on becoming a member; that was some three years ago. I have now been elected chairman in succession John Wallis, who has served the club brilliantly for the last eight years.

WHAT are you plans for the club as chairman?
I have no great plans to change the way the club functions. It has been in existence for over 40 years and as they say “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it”. What we do need, however, is more members, especially from the younger members of the community, and I shall be working hard to make this happen. The world of amateur photography is huge. It embraces all levels of ambition, from the would-be professional to the happy mobile telephone snapper.
Every photographer can benefit from being a member of a club and its activities.

WHAT activities does the club have lined up?
The club meets every second Friday from September to May with regular competitions within the club and against other neighbouring clubs. We invite numerous respected and elite photographers to our meetings, both to lecture and to judge our competitions. Forthcoming evenings will include a “Digital Boot Camp” where an expert will explain what all those little used bells and whistles on your digital camera actually do. We have two internal competitions in the coming weeks with a range of subjects.

HOW would you encourage others to get involved with the club?
All I can say is that almost everybody, since the introduction of digital cameras, is a photographer and if they would like to make more of their skills then come along and talk to us.

WHAT’S your favourite kind of photography and why?
I enjoy taking wildlife photographs, I believe in conservation and shooting with a camera never killed anything.

IS there anything specific that inspires your photography, and why?
My wife and I travel abroad a great deal and this gives lots of opportunities for photographing people and their cultures.

WHAT do you like about the local area?
If I look out of the front of my house I see a beautiful rural landscape, from the back I can see the sea. I am also told that Dorset is the only county that doesn’t have a motorway. What’s not to like?

WHAT would you do if you won the Lottery?
I would buy my Bentley and my Rolex watch and then I would give a goodly sum to my favourite cause, Jersey Zoo. I would then invest the rest as a family fortune for present and future generations.

WHAT is your ideal holiday destination and why?
It would have to be the Indian sub-continent. I find the people and culture fascinating.

WHICH three people would invite to dream dinner party, and why?
Bill and Hilary Clinton because they are so phenomenally talented and intriguing, and then perhaps Harold Macmillan who really did make you think you had never had it so good.

www.viewfromonline.co.uk

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