About Derek

Derek Chambers

I was introduced to photography by my maternal grandfather, Max Enke. Born in 1884, he started taking photographs as a very young man. I have copies of photos he took of my mother, as a babe in the arms of her grandmother in 1911 on Galiano Island, and a few years later in Victoria’s Beacon Hill park when she was an active three year old. During WW II my grandfather, who was a British citizen, was interned in a variety of prison camps in France and Germany. I did not meet my grandfather until I was nearly ten. Right away he encouraged my interest in photography, giving me my first camera as a 13th birthday present. I have been taking photographs ever since then (60 years).

Until a few years ago almost all my photographs were simply typical records of the passing of life: family, pets, landscapes, travels, and other events. A watershed moment occurred when I attended the 2012 Bridge Lake Photo Group’s Photo Exhibition. I was struck immediately by the professionalism on display and so made it a point to join the group, which is led by Larry Citra. Since then, although I have a long way yet to go, I have learned a huge amount about every aspect of photography – cameras, lenses, composition, techniques, processing etc – encouraged and assisted by the easy sharing of knowledge and expertise, a hallmark of the group.