The Chris Cheesman Memorial Award was inaugurated in 2017 in memory of AP’s former News Editor, who died in 2016. It is given to someone in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the UK photography industry.
This year’s recipient is Richard Caplan, who recently retired as the owner of Leica and Hasselblad specialist, Richard Caplan Photographic in London. ‘It has been wonderful to serve generations of photographers, often in the same family – parents, children, grandchildren,’ said Richard. ‘I wanted to produce a shop like Wallace Heaton, where I started working in 1961, and make service the biggest priority.’
Richard in his former shop in central London
Len Lyons, former owner of RG Lewis (another London Leica dealer which closed in 2015) paid tribute. ‘I have known Richard for over 30 years.. He loved his shop and the trade and is already missed by customers. The age of the gentleman sales assistant is coming to an end and Richard was one of the last of his kind – somebody from a very special and enjoyable time in the history of the trade.’
Chris Cheesman, the former News Editor of AP
