SOCIETY and wedding photographer, Michael Robert Sanford, has died at his home in Totland Bay.

Mr Sanford was 76.

Born in Finedon, Northamptonshire, in 1943, he travelled at the end of the Second World War with his parents Robert and Rita and younger sister Elizabeth to Jinja, Uganda, where his father had a government contract.

During the Mau Mau uprising he attended a private boarding school in Nakuru, Kenya.

He often related the exciting experiences he and the other students had when the heavily-guarded school came under attack.

After a brief holiday with his grandparents near Southampton, the family travelled to Australia where he completed his education at the Heidelberg High School, Melbourne.

In 1964 he returned to England and joined Keith Wakeley Studios, Wimbledon, as a society and wedding photographer, attending many Royal engagements.

In 1971 he established Mike Sanford Photographic Processing in Wimbledon and was patronised by many of the leading London photographers.

In 2000 he retired and along with his beloved German shepherd dogs relocated to the Isle of Wight. Aside his dogs, his other main interest was classical music.

He died on September 23 and his funeral took place in Wimbledon on Wednesday (October 16), followed by interment in the family grave at Putney Vale cemetery.

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