Thame mourns popular photographer

THE family and friends of popular Thame photographer and drummer, Nick White, have been devastated by the tragic news of his sudden death while on holiday with his wife, Sarah in Cornwall.

Nick White 

Nick, 51, who was originally from Wheatley, had lived and worked in Thame for many years as a photographer and for some time running Print.com. He originally trained as a medical photographer and worked at the John Radcliff Hospital in Oxford.

Nick was a familiar sight taking pictures at Thame’s big events, like Music In The Park, the Carnival, the annual Service of Remembrance (usually at the top of a ladder), the Thame Swimathon and often gave up his time to take photographs for local organisations like The Thame Youth Memorial and The Day Centre. With Peter Lambert, landlord of the Cross Keys pub where Nick was a regular, he set up the Thame Camera Club where he was always willing to share his expertise to help others take better pictures.

Tributes have been piling into to Nick’s facebook page, paying tribute to his kindness, his generosity and his sense of humour. The following eloquent tribute reflecting the outpourings of many, was posted by Norman Brand on behalf of the Thame and District Day Centre – Nick provided some of his stunning shots of Thame for the Centre’s 2016 calendar :

“We at Thame and District Day Centre are so very sad to hear of the sudden death of our friend and unfailing supporter, Nick White. He gave his time to us as a superb professional photographer, to record in pictures so many of the highlights of our life in Thame and in doing so contributed to the increasing public recognition of our work.

“But his role in the life of our town extended much further. His pictures of so many aspects of Thame day to day, against the background of the landscape in which it nestles, capture the very essence of this very special part of Oxfordshire, always produced with consummate artistry. We really miss him.”

A collage of photographs of Thame taken by Nick is now in Romania where they will be on display permanently at the town museum due to open soon, in one of Thame’s twin towns, Sinaia.

Nick’s many other interests included identifying edible fungi, astronomy and playing drums in the band Doghouse, which regularly plays at The Falcon pub in Thame.

Just on Friday, Nick was in among the crowd taking pictures of the town’s Christmas Lights event, including shots of the guest of honour, Olympic cycling gold medalist, Victoria Pendleton. Thame Town Council, for whom Nick became its official Mayoral photographer, said this: “It is with great sadness that the Town Council has learned of the untimely death of local resident and talented photographer, Nick White.

“The Council has enjoyed many years working with Nick through his role as the Mayor’s official photographer. Whilst he may no longer be with us, his legacy will live on through the many wonderful photographs he has taken that so remarkably capture the spirit of the community in which he lived.

“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very difficult time.”

As well as his wife Sarah, Nick also leaves two daughters, Lucy and Martha.