Steyning Camera Club member wins World-Class Photography Award

Peter Merrick, retired and lives in Southwick, was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society for an exceptional and creative work of 20 images he put together to help engage people in more healthy living.

David Clews, a club spokesman, said: “Peter becomes the first member of Steyning Camera Club in its 50 year history to receive such a high accolade and we are so very proud of him. His creative work and his engaging nature has always made him a popular member of the club and this is very inspirational for all our members”.

Peter took up photography after he retired and joined Steyning Camera Club 10 years ago to improve his skills.

Locally, he is popular amongst photographers for his creative style. He felt he could use his skills in a fun way to help illustrate the benefits of healthy living.

Peter says: “It is often suggested that we as a nation should be more active, eat healthily and limit our on-screen time on computers, the television and other devices. So one day I tried to visualise walking around my local supermarket, imagining how I might interact with ‘larger than life’ fruit and veg and this project sprung into life.

“It had to be fun, both in engaging with friends, family and strangers to take the desired images, and it had to be amusing to capture the imaginations of young and old alike, to bring a smile to their faces and perhaps persuade some to further embrace the virtues of healthy living. So, my aim has been to try to interrupt their screen time by providing a series of fantasy images using fruit and vegetables to express the pleasures to be gained from physical activity and healthy eating and presented in the form of humorous illustrations designed for inclusion in a family book.

“Of course, the ‘cherry on the cake’, so to speak, was undoubtedly to be recognised by fellow photographers and the Royal Photographic Society for achieving this standard of story-telling”.

The Royal Photographic Society is one of the world's oldest photographic societies with continuous existence since 1853 and has a membership of more than 11,000 photographers worldwide.