Neill Menneer (1965-68)

Neill Menneer is an award winning photographer who has been in the industry for over 40 years. He has worked for the country’s top magazines and design companies. Winner of gold awards for portraiture, landscape and boudoir, he is a highly respected and accomplished artist who, since he obtained his distinction for photography and became the winner of the Observer Photographic prize in 1980, has been winning ever since! He now runs, with his wife Jo, one of the country’s most respected and profitable studios from a converted church in Bath, England.

Spirit Photographic specialises in People and Boudoir photography. He has published three books and has been a major contributor to many others, including Master Photography by Mitchell Beazley. His book on Bath (published by Frances Lincoln) has recently been updated and reprinted and is the city’s premier coffee-table book. It was called a “love letter to the city” and has now been joined by the second volume Bath a Pictorial Journey.

Neill is now turning his attention to training and coaching of photography. With years of experience teaching small groups of amateur photographers Neill now wants to extend this expertise outside his city walls! His range of E-books are called No -Nonsense guides and sum up his practical and down to earth style. As he says: “Photography should be fun but the guides which invariably come with your camera are full of mysterious terms and stuf you rarely, if ever, need to know! My No-Nonsense guides are jargon free and get to the nub of the mater straight away.” Written in plain English Neill’s years of experience have taught him what is important and what techniques are really worth knowing. He is not an academic, not a writer, not a publisher. Neill is a 100% full-time and dedicated photographer and has been all his life, going to photographic college when he was just 18. He has a lot to teach and he wants to pass on what he knows to you. He loved Orwell Park and has many lovely memories under Noel (Nolly) and ‘Toad’!

Neill is married with two children, Phoebe and Rupert, both at University and a dog called Jaspa.