Obituary: William Wright FPSNZ

from CameraTalk June/July 2020

by Photographic Society of New Zealand

An Unintentional Masterpiece

By Anne Tate APSNZ

EVERYONE LOVED WILLIAM. He was the kind of person that people gravitate to with his quiet smile, thoughtfulness and gentle ways. I first met William when he joined the Hutt Camera Club in 2003. He was the quiet one and I’m the rowdy one, but we bonded firmly in our shared love of photography.

William was a fabulous photographer, a true artist. He was a sensitive soul and I think that is reflected in a lot of his images. He would photograph most things but he loved landscapes and had a particular affinity for architectural work and abstracts. He was awarded his Associateship in 2007 and followed it by attaining his Fellowship in 2016 with a magnificent body of work titled Urban Forest. His images were double exposures of trees and buildings, beautifully blended together into works of art.

William joined the PSNZ Council in 2010 and in 2019 was recognised with a Service Award, along with Neil Gordon, for their outstanding contribution in developing, implementing and administering the database.

William and I always travelled to conventions together. On one occasion we were driving through the Taranaki region when I spotted a car wrecker’s yard. I backed up but unfortunately the fences were something like seven feet high. Not willing to be deterred I walked down a side alley where the fence miraculously dropped to a rickety 3-wire job. I hopped over and had reached some of the cars when I suddenly realised that William had not followed me. I turned and waited.

After a pause he jumped over and we spent a happy hour or so, trespassing all over this wrecker’s yard. It wasn’t until a long, long time later that he ‘fessed up the reason for his

hesitation. He was waiting to see if there was a guard dog.

This incident gave rise to William’s quote in the 2012 edition of NZ Camera. “It’s not a proper photo trip if you haven’t had to climb at least one fence to get the shot you want.” And so, jumping fences became a ‘thing’.

William and I went to Central Otago, five years running, to attend Tony Bridge’s winter workshops. By the third year we knew all of Tony’s lecture material but so enjoyed the opportunity to commune with like-minded souls for a week and photograph the stunning Otago light, that we kept going back.

We would all eat in the Wedderburn Tavern which was across the road from the cottages that we stayed in. Central Otago pub meals are massive and very quickly we decided that we needed to shake the meal down before going back to do our photo homework. We walked down the road a bit and came across the Otago Rail Trail. On a complete whim we decided to walk up the

trail (yes, in mid-winter, in pitch darkness) to where it intersected with where we were staying. It was probably only a kilometre or so, and we had torches, so off we trotted. All the locals thought we were absolutely bonkers but we enjoyed it so much that it too became a ‘thing’. Other people joined us and sometimes there would be as many as six torches bobbing up the track. There was only one night in five years that we missed our after-dinner walk, and that was because the snow was deep and had turned icy.

In 2011 William and I joined a group of friends travelling to South Africa. This was William’s first foray outside New Zealand and the travel bug bit firmly. Following that trip William and I returned to Africa to complete unfinished business.

In hindsight, I am so thankful that William was able to enjoy so many memorable moments on that last trip. Being in the only vehicle witnessing a large herd of elephants, extremely close-up; lions from two metres away; and seeing a black rhino. We spent several days at Deadvlei and also had a two-hour helicopter ride, sans doors, to photograph the dunes, right out to the sea. In Mpumalunga, South Africa, we were really excited to see 800-year-old rock art in situ and to learn how the San people painted their stories. If you haven’t seen William’s stunning images of the Namibian sand dunes and the buried town of Kolmanskop, check out his website, wrightlight.photography

William and I shared a very similar eye when it came to photography and we have many photos that are almost identical. Experienced photographers always reckon this is not possible, but I can assure you we managed it, and without collusion. If we were out and about together with cameras and came across something exciting we would grin at each other and then, from all the possibilities, we’d both zero in on exactly the same thing.

William and I competed with each other photographically and always shared our competition entries, commiserating or celebrating as the case may be. He achieved some notable successes, particularly over the last three years.

In 2017 he won Champion Projected Image at the Nelson Triptych Salon and Bronze at the North Shore Salon.

In 2018 he achieved Honours and two Highly Commended at North Shore. 2019 was a top year. He won a Gold Medal and two ribbons at the New Zealand International Salon; Honours at the Dunedin Festival; four Judge’s Commendations at the Whanganui Humanity and Earth Salon, along with a large number of Acceptances. William was also stoked to learn, just in time, that he had an image selected for the 2020 edition of NZ Camera.

2019 Nelson National Triptych Best Abstract Image - Below Average

William lost his battle with complications from a rare immune disorder on 11 May. He had fought hard and, like all of us, was shocked and stunned to be told that the proposed liver transplant was off the table and he’d be lucky to last a month. Devastatingly, it turned out to be less than a week. Quite coincidentally I read this in a book on the day he told me he had run out of options. “It’s not the goodbye that hurts the most. It’s the hole you are left with.”

William leaves a crater.