John Zimmerman has been an avid photographer for over 35 years. Born and raised in Montreal, his love of photography grew out of his love of hockey. He enjoyed bringing his camera to Montreal Canadiens games and photographing the action. Without any formal training he honed his craft by trial and error. When asked what type of photography he specialized in, he would always say that he didn’t specialize in any one area, he just photographed things that caught his eye. Nature, sports, people, events and travel, it didn’t matter. If it got his attention he tried to capture it. He now only uses Canon digital equipment.
He is a member and President of the Montreal Camera Club. He also holds memberships in Canadian Association of Photographic Arts and Photographic Society of America. He has won ribbons, medals and trophies in local, national and international competitions.
The Montreal Camera club recently wrote:
“John, who is an extremely keen and talented photographer, won three of the top club trophies, including the Henri Vautelet Memorial Trophy for his exceptional Nature Photographs; the J.W. Campbell Memorial Trophy for his beautiful prints, and the prestigious Don Ridley Masters Trophy which requires both photographic excellence and versatility - the recipient must be accomplished in all three disciplines - Nature Photography, Pictorial Photography and Printing.
The Montreal Camera Club, now in its 114th year, has a long history of achievement and established a system of Honours Awards in 1954 to reward members not only for photographic proficiency, but also for their contributions to the Club. For his service to the club and high degree of photographic achievement, John qualified as Master Pictorialist.
Congratulations for honours well deserved.”
He donates time and photos for charity and community events. He has donated a collection of photographs to the Jewish General Hospital. He has photographed events for The Missing Children’s Network, volleyball tournaments for the Children’s Wish Foundation the Montreal Ovarian Cancer Initiative and others.