Geoff Hastings
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Geoffrey Hastings | |
|---|---|
| Born | Geoffrey George Hastings 14 January 1926 |
| Died | 25 September 2005 (aged 79) |
| Pen name | Geoff Hastings |
| Occupation | Manager |
| Notable works | Images of Wisbech no.1, Images of Wisbech no.2, Images of Wisbech no.3 |
| Partner | Mabel |
Geoffrey George Hastings (14 January 1926 – 25 September 2005), was an English photographer who worked in Wisbech in the 1950s when the town was being redeveloped. He worked for the Air Inspectorate Department in nearby March, auditing aircraft parts during World War 2. After the war, he married and worked in Wisbech as a manager with Cambridgeshire Motors on Elm Road. His house was one of many that was affected by the 1978 Wisbech Flood. His collection of thousands of prints was ruined. Fortuitously, the film negatives were not.[1]
Hastings made strenuous efforts to capture the images of buildings in Wisbech during the 1950s and 1960s. Slum clearances and the demolition of redundant buildings were rapidly changing the townscape. The filling in of the Wisbech Canal in the 1960s, removal of bridges and sluice and construction of the dual carriageway and associated road junctions changed the town irreversibly. The closure of the passenger railway and reduction in the freight operations also released land for other uses.
Cycling around the town and nearby villages with a 35mm camera, he captured images of properties destined for future demolition. As his collection rapidly grew, he was increasingly able to provide images for local papers and books on local history. Hastings' photos appeared in local newspapers and in an advert he is described as a 'Journalistic photographer' operating from 4 Opportune Road.[2]
The Wisbech flood of 1978 ruined his collection of prints. After he died in 2005, his family discovered boxes of negatives not reached by the floodwater. These were passed to a family friend, a local history enthusiast.[3] An example of one of his drawings used in a newspaper is on the Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network website.[4]