Local photographer recounts changes over 50 years

With a digital camera around his neck, local photographer Fred Meulemeester steps back in time, pointing to a photograph of himself from the 1980s with a Hasselblad medium-format camera. After more than 50 years of recording local families, he closed his business this spring. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Local photographer Fred Meulemeester witnessed many changes in photography and his business over the past 50-plus years.

Meulemeester started in business as Fred’s Photography part-time in 1973 or 74. He always had an interest in photography, and then bought a camera and took instructional courses in portraiture, weddings, and fine art.

He started working full-time as a bricklayer, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Then, in the late 1970s, when interest rates skyrocketed and the bricklaying business slowed, he decided it was a good time to switch careers.

“When I got into photography, my dad wasn’t too happy,” he recalled.

In his early days, professional photographers used medium-format cameras with film larger than the more common 35mm. Many photographers had a darkroom to print black and white, colour or both. Meulemeester did both.

When Meulemeester started full time, only one other photographer was in town. It was a friendly competition, and when that photographer retired, he gave Meulemeester some equipment.

For five years, Fred’s Photography had a downtown location on south Broadway. Meulemeester recalls doing enough passport photos in a month to pay the rent when he was the only photographer offering the service in town.

“It used to be if someone phoned the passport office and asked where they should go for photos, they always said Fred’s Photography,” he said. “Printing them in black and white, they were always nicer.”

Weddings and portraits were his main forte for the first couple of decades. He recalls shooting 66 weddings in his busiest year. Most of the weddings were in the area, but he took one in Cancun and another in Calgary.

Then, portraits and weddings started to slow down as dance and skating photography picked up about 35 years ago. At one time, he shot photographs for 25 dance schools and 10 skating clubs from Sarnia to the GTA. He took hundreds of thousands of photographs over the years.

Then, the business started to slow down after COVID lockdowns caused many of dance schools to close.

Meulemeester said he was busier before the advent of digital, when he was still using film.

“Most people didn’t have a good film camera,” he said, which is why they relied on a professional.

Then, in the early 2000s, digital cameras were launched. In a way, this was good.

“You could shoot what you want and eliminate the ones you didn’t want,” Meulemeester said.

But, as technology advanced, many people flocked to digital cameras.

“It’s a little easier, a little more forgiving,” he said. “You can snap a couple of pictures, check the back of the camera. Before, you had to have a light meter and wait for the prints to come back.

“The digital cameras have really taken off. When I first started with digital, the cameras were okay, but they aren’t what they are today. Some of the digital cameras are now sharper than film cameras.

“Nowadays, with smartphones, everyone wants to take photos.”

Meulemeester also witnessed a change in how people valued family photographs. When he started, interest rates were high, and people couldn’t afford as much, but family photographs were important. The photographs were a part of family history. Now, he sees less emphasis on this, and all people want is digital photographs.

Having attended as many weddings as he did, he has a few tales to tell. He recalled one wedding where he was waiting at the bride’s home for photographs, and she didn’t arrive there until five minutes before she was to be at the church. The bride did show, though, and the wedding went through.

He also remembers a trend a few years ago to do ‘trash the dress’ photographs a few months after the wedding. For some of these, he went to the Elora Gorge or the Sandhills.

“We didn’t really trash it completely, but it was pretty dirty,” he said with a smile.

Now 77 years old, a decision was made to close the business this spring.