Rhonda Wilson MBE, a tireless champion of photographic artists, passed away in the morning of 6 November, having battled a serious illness for many years.
A pioneer in professional development, Wilson started out as a photographic artist, becoming interested in the 1990s in how new technologies would impact on the way that the image world functioned.
In 1995 she authored Seeing the Light – a Photographer’s Guide to Enterprise, subsequently founding in 1995, Seeing the Light, a training agency for photographic artists, which became an Arts Council England revenue funded organisation. Through her development work, Wilson also founded the Birmingham-based photography review festival Rhubarb:Rhubarb.
Greatly respected in the photography and moving image world, Wilson’s long-standing support for artists and the photographic profession drew a huge response earlier this year, when following her three-year battle with a severe and serious illness, her road to recovery was further jeopardised through the risk of losing her home. Her friends and colleagues rallied round her, raising over $20,000 from 236 backers through a fundraising campaign.
Words of loss
As news of Wilson’s death was announced on Facebook, friends and colleagues took to the site to share words of loss: “This is terribly sad. Rhonda was a glorious spirit and a passionate fighter for great art and artists,” said Mark Ball, artistic director of LIFT festival.
“She was incredibly generous to me, giving me my first work as a producer as well as a desk and phone in her office and we had a lot of fun working together. She leaves behind a legacy of amazing support for the photographic world and a reputation for developing the careers of some of our great image makers.”
Artist John Garghan said: “I feel so sad because Rhonda was so special, she was the one and only who shaped so many people’s careers and made quite an impact, she taught me many things about photography and the arts and I shall always remember her as I put her teaching into practice.”
Birmingham Central Library curator Pete James recounted: “She always said ‘If you dream it will happen’. She dreamt and made it happen for herself and countless others.”
Wilson is survived by her husband John McQueen, her parents, Len and Daisy, and her brother, Clive.
Rhonda Wilson MBE, 17 August 1953 – 6 November 2014
