Adding a splash of colour to life

They say a photo captures the essence of life and adds colour to a person’s world, Buderim retiree and avid photographer, John Speers, says.

“It’s a moment frozen in time,” he says. “It brings joy to my heart, satisfies my desire to be creative and it is something people can share.”

The Immanuel Gardens Retirement Village resident (pictured) has won many awards for his landscape images, including a recent Colour Print of the Year award from the Queensland Photographic Society’s Toowoomba branch.

“It made me feel happy because we all like to win,” he says.

In 2004 he was awarded a monetary prize of $400 by the Heritage Building Society for an old colour slide of one of his daughters. 

The Heritage Building Society also showcased four of his pieces of work in Toowoomba at the university and the art gallery.

His work captures landscapes of the Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba regions. 

“I have taken photos in the mist, of the trees and in the outdoors when visiting places like an old shearing shack – I just used my imagination,” he says.

“I like photographing Toowoomba because it is inland and has mountains, forests and the environment is more varied. I’ve also photographed the beaches at Mooloolaba and Coolum.”

The 89-year-old has had no formal training but has moved with the times, leaving processing in darkrooms behind and embracing digital technology.

“I bought a laptop computer and taught myself how to use it and bought a digital camera. I’m very uptodate now.

“I wouldn’t go back to the oldschool ways now. They are entirely different but they both produce a print and you have to go with the flow as things change in life.”

Mr Speers enjoys digital photography because it is “much easier and doesn’t require you to stand in a room full of chemicals”.

His daughter, who lives in Paris, shares his love of photography and works in the field professionally. The father and daughter team have even held a joint exhibition in the Toowoomba Art Gallery.

Mr Speers’ advice to up and coming photographers is to take it day by day.

“Sometimes I look at some of the images I took and think ‘I didn’t do that. You’ve got to have a passion.”

The gifted photographer is now calling for people to purchase his mounted images so he can donate all proceeds to Immanuel Gardens Retirement Village.