Chris Forsey remembered: A lifetime through the camera lens

“It was a way of him to chronicle his passions. He loved bird watching and he could identify birds with a glance, but to be sure, he’d photograph them. He loved sport and if he couldn't be playing, he’d love to photograph the action.” – Roger Forsey

The camera was not just a career for Chris Forsey, it was another lens to explore his many other interests.

After his death on January 11, aged 63, tributes have been paid to remember a man whose pictures said more about his talent than he would perhaps ever say himself.

Chris worked at the Advertiser at the outset of a long career in photography (archive images)

“He was very modest, he never pushed himself forward,” his brother Roger Forsey told the Advertiser.

“But he was also very personable – he seemed to get on with everyone and took an interest in everyone.”

Chris grew up in Maidenhead and went to Ellington Primary School, now Riverside Primary School, before Cox Green School and heading off to Sheffield University to study photography.

“He always had an interest in photography,” Mr Forsey, 69, said.

“But I think it was when he came back from university that it really kicked in and he got himself a job with the Maidenhead Advertiser.”

Over a decades-long career in newspaper photography – much of it spent with the Maidenhead Advertiser – Chris built a body of work spanning sport, wildlife, music and major news events.

One of his celebrated images, of Maidenhead United’s Lance Cadogan poised to strike home a goal, was named 1984’s ‘best photograph of football outside the Football League’.

He would also capture images that would go on to make the front pages of newspapers across the country; he was at the scene when a lone gunman ran riot in Hungerford in 1987.

Chris’ superb 1984 photograph of a Maidenhead United goal in action received national praise

Later in life, Chris would move to the Tilehurst area and worked as a freelancer for the Reading Chronicle newspaper, among other titles.

Although his camera appeared never too far away, there was much more to Chris than just the photography.

As a keen birdwatcher, his wildlife pictures often appeared in the Advertiser during his time there.

His coverage of the local cricket clubs would also prove a regular feature, with Chris an accomplished cricketer for White Waltham Cricket Club.

A statement from the club on Facebook paid tribute to Chris as a ‘more than effective’ bowler and, as a batsman, ‘the finest judge of the position of his off stump of his generation’.

The statement added: “His innings has come to a far too early a close. RIP Chris.”

Talent was also found in a love of music and musicianship. Mr Forsey said a particular favourite of Chris’ were the rock riffs of Jimmi Hendrix.

“He was a very gifted musician,” Roger said.

“Just before he passed, he mastered Jimmy playing at Woodstock doing the Star-Spangled Banner, which required a lot of skill and certain effects pedals…” Mr Forsey said.

He continued: “He was so excited, he called me up and just said, ‘I've done it, I've mastered that’.”

Chris was on hand to capture the smiles as Queen Elizabeth visited Slough in 2013

Music would prove another interest to explore with photography, with regular postings to Reading Festival a particular highlight.

Through the Advertiser’s archives, Chris’s photographs chart the changing face of Maidenhead and the world around it, and will likely continue to do so for many years to come.

Photographer Ian Longthorne, who knew Chris for more than 16 years, said he still regularly scans the late snapper’s black and white negatives for Remember When, the Tiser’s nostalgia page.

Chris is survived by his wife Jane, son Ben and granddaughter Lucy.

A funeral will be held at West Berkshire Crematorium at 2pm on February 13.