Peter Coles BSc Dip Ed FRPS FIPF EFIAP FACI(M) (1935-2011)

Peter Coles died on 31.3.11 in the Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax and our AV movement has lost probably its most talented and certainly its most enthusiastic supporter. Peter was very well liked and respected worldwide for his audio-visual programmes and for his willingness to discuss and help anyone who asked him for assistance or comment.

He was editor of the RPS AV Group magazine AV News from 1990-1997 and the international magazine AV World from 1997-2007 and always produced a first class product, bringing his great knowledge and enthusiasm to the job. Nothing was too much of a problem for him. He brought to the readers extensive knowledge of the wider international scene in AV. Too often we tend to be rather insular in our attitudes to AV in this country. That cannot be said of Peter whose AV productions brought a breath of fresh air to our AV events. His different and unusual approaches to his AV's were invariably thought provoking, sometimes difficult to understand, on occasions impossible to understand, but always worth watching.

He was a prolific worker having produced well over one hundred AV programmes and always with a message. He won many awards in AV Festivals both at home and abroad - more than anybody else in the history of the AV movement. Peter graduated with a Degree in Chemistry and Theology and wrote and published over 20 Science books for use in both primary and secondary education. Later he published numerous books of his poems, many of which formed the basis for his AV programmes.

However, it is as a very good friend that I will remember Peter. We first met in 1985 at the National AV Championships. It was not long before I asked him if he would work with me on an AV programme. He was surprised, as he had thought I did not like his work, but I knew quality when I saw it. The result of our collaboration was called 'Motorway' an AV programme that has been very successful, winning a number of International Festivals including the European Cup in Epinal in 1990. It has the distinction of being the highest scoring AV programme of all time in FIAP sponsored festivals, a fact that Peter was always pleased and proud to point out. Peter created the theme and the words and was delighted when he was favourably compared with Shakespeare by the Romanian AV Festival organisers in Timisoara.

We subsequently worked on a number of AV programmes together, always amicably and without stress. I visited Peter in hospital one week before he died. He had agreed to work with me on a further AV programme, so I took a number of images and left them on his laptop in the hospital. I thought it would give him something to think about and take his mind off his situation. In less than two days I received a phone call from him. He had completed the prose for the AV and he read out his suggested ideas. There was a short discussion and a further call came a day later. Then the day before he died I received a letter with the handwritten poem ready to use. Now I have to complete the AV!

Along with my wife Rhona, Peter, Ron Davies and I travelled all over Europe visiting AV Festivals. He was a great companion. However, he could be very absent-minded. When going to Thionville from Holland with Ron and fellow enthusiast Willem van den Berg he was reputed to have started with his suitcase and his camera case and to have arrived in Thionville with neither!

During the time I have known Peter he has been a well-liked Lib-Dem councillor in Calderdale, Mayor of Mytholmroyd, and Mayor of Calderdale. In the latter capacity and with his wife Enid, he attended over 1000 events during his year in office! Two years later he underwent a quadruple by-pass operation and made an AV programme about his experiences while he was in hospital undergoing surgery! He thought the operation would give him back his old energy, but it was not to be and the last few years of his life saw a decline in his health. In recognition of his service to the community he was made a Freeman of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in February this year.

His years of service to the AV movement have resulted in numerous awards such as the Dobson-Henry medal for services to the AV Group, and the Fenton medal for services to the Royal Photographic Society. He served for many years on the RPS AV Distinctions Panel as both a member and as Chairman. In 2003 he took over the organisation of the IAC Geoffrey Round AV Competition and made it an International event. It became the very first all digital International AV Festival.

Peter will leave a great void in the AV movement. He was quite unique and has always been at the forefront of the movement. It has been a real pleasure to have known him as a close friend.

Peter was a strong practicing Christian and his thoughts and beliefs appeared throughout his AV work. I suspect that even now he is discussing with St. Peter the possibility of making an AV programme with him!

Our condolences go to his wife Enid and to his children - Mark, Richard and Belinda - on their sad loss.

Colin Balls
April 2011