Maurice
Weidemann [ b. 1936 d. 2001 ]Maurice
Weidemann [ b. 1936 d. 2001 ]Maurice Weidemann was a longstanding and highly active member of the Canberra Photographic Society, and a most distinguished competitor. He was born and grew up in Victoria, and completed a PhD in Biochemistry at Melbourne University in 1965. After further study in Oxford and Munich he joined the Australian National University in 1971, and worked as a lecturer and researcher in Biochemistry until his retirement in 1993.
After first learning photography as a teenager, Maurie developed a serious interest in photography in 1977. He joined the CPS in 1978, and won numerous awards: in monochrome prints, in colour slides, and in colour prints made from slides. He was a very keen participant in CPS activities, serving for many years on the committee and for a period as Vice-President. He was also awarded the honour of SSAPS by the Australian Photographic Society in recognition of his services to photography over a period of years at both local and national levels. Maurie played a major role in the organisation of two national conventions of the Australian Photographic Society (1988 and 2000). He was primarily responsible for the program for APSCON 2000, widely regarded as one of the finest ever.
Maurie had a strong interest in theatre photography. He photographed many local productions and provided photographs for use in foyer displays by the production companies. He also served as one of the official photographers for the Australian National Playwrights' Conferences in 1998 and 1999, and was a judge of the Macgregor Prize for Photography at the University of Southern Queensland.
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He also had a strong interest in alpine landscapes and street photography. Since his retirement, he travelled extensively in Europe - including a 1700km walk across south-west France and northern Spain from Le Puy to Santiago de Compostela; Asia (Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, India, China, Mongolia and Indonesia) and North and South America. Many of these journeys generated lectures and slide shows where he shared his experiences with others. He was always most articulate in discussing photography, whether his own or other members' images, and when lecturing to the CPS about famous photographers.
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In recent years, Maurie won the Annual A Grade Slide competition, Monochrome Print competition and Colour Print competition. He was runner-up several times in the Hedda Morrison Trophy print portfolio competition, and won prizes for the best Slide and Colour Print of the Year. He achieved the award of CPS Photographer of the Year six times.
Maurie participated in many group exhibitions featuring work of the CPS and the CPS Theatre Group, and played a key role in organising many of these. Outside the CPS, he held solo and joint exhibitions including Memories of an Unfinished Journey 1996, Visions of Trees 1998 and Hidden Colours of Australia - Snowgums 1998. A selection of his snowgum photographs was exhibited in New York in 1998. He played the major role in the organization of the highly successful CPS "Explorations" exhibition held at this gallery twelve months ago. Maurie went missing while walking in the mountains four weeks ago.
