The Guild of Television Cameramen (GTC), an independent non-profit-making international organisation with 1,000 members in several countries around the world including South Africa, has elected Keith Massey as its new chairperson.
Recipient of a prestigious Royal Television Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, Massey is a highly experienced and well-respected cameraman based in Yorkshire. He has accepted the post for a two-year tenure, succeeding Graeme McAlpine who led the GTC during an active period of expansion.
Massey’s career as a director of photography and lighting cameraman dates back to the 1960s: “I started with a hand-wound clockwork 16 mm silent-film camera. My first television piece was about Kelabit natives in Borneo, used on the show What The Papers Say for Granada TV in Manchester.
“Later I contributed regularly to the BBC in Manchester for its nightly regional programme Look North. Offered a staff job on the Daily Mail as a photographer or a two-days-per-week contract with the BBC, I chose television. Since 1970 I have worked on a freelance basis in news, documentary and drama, receiving RTS awards in all these fields. I still work occasionally with BBC News correspondents from London or the Northern Bureau, and also now film in high definition video for other programmes, so fully appreciate the pressures professional cameramen are going through.’
Massey feels very honoured to be taking over as chair of the GTC during its 40th anniversary. “My aim is to encourage excellence in all fields. Mediocrity is not an option for people who are operating as the eyes and ears of large television audiences. I would like to see the GTC being more assertive in protecting quality and will endeavour to bring strong positive leadership to the GTC along with my colleagues on council.”
