Boris Spremo c2001 by Robert Lansdale
Toronto. A PHSC speaker and member, Boris first spoke at our March 2001 meeting. I did a memorial post when Boris died in August, 2017 at 81 years of age. At the time he was writing a book of his adventures and photos, since completed by his children.
A lengthy article was written by editor Lansdale in issue 27-1. It begins, “Boris Spremo was an energetic news photographer. It all started in his homeland of Yugoslavia where Boris was fascinated by his cousin’s cameras. He pestered his father so much that a Zeiss folder was finally acquired in a local flea market.
“That was for his thirteenth birthday and it led him to cover high school sports and social events before taking formal training at the Belgrade Cinematographic Institute.
“Mr. Spremo immigrated to Canada in 1957, accepting his first job as a dishwasher in the basement of Toronto’s Royal York Hotel. Delivery boy, tobacco picker, a miner at Elliot Lake, all were interim jobs while he learned the English language.
“He finally landed a job as a darkroom technician. Three months on a tobacco farm netted him $310.00 with which he purchased a 4×5 Busch Pressman and electronic flash. That enabled him to do week-end weddings for a studio, being paid $15.00 each – sometimes three in a day.
“Luck was with Boris when he covered a soccer game that turned into a riot. With only five sheets of film he got two good game-action photos and three riot shots. These served to introduce him to the Globe and Mail and within six months he was hired as a staff photographer.” …
Members read all of the lengthy illustrated article in the issue 27-1 pdf file on the free members-only DVD/thumb drive. Send any questions to member@phsc.ca. Not a member? Joining is a snap! See ‘Membership’ above or at right.
