CUNARD SHIPS, CHRIS FRAME AND PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY. Find out more!

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Through my interest in Cunard, some years ago I came across sites that a chap called Chris Frame had developed. They were packed with information and passion and started following the work he was doing.


He has recently started to also write books about Cunard ships, which are excellent. So I asked him to write a post about his interest in Cunard and the books, and here is what he wrote for the blog:


My interest in Cunard and Ocean Liners started when at age 11 I stepped aboard QE2 for the first time. We took a short cruise from Auckland to Sydney and I was hooked. Even at that young age I was fascinated by the history and prestige of that magnificent ship and the company that owned her.


Over the years my interest grew and in 1999 I launched “Chris’ Cunard Page” as a small website about QE2 and Caronia. The website has since grown to cover the three modern Queens as well as QE2, the original Mary and Elizabeth and every major Cunarder from Britannia to Royal Viking Sun.


In 2007 I sailed aboard QM2 from San Francisco to Sydney and during the voyage discussed with Bill Miller a idea for a photographic QE2 book, a sort of Photographic Tour through the ship. In fact, Rachelle and I had already started the manuscript for the book which was then titled QE2: A Photographic Tour.


Bill was very supportive and said that if we send him the completed manuscript he’d read it and help us find a publisher. It was an added honour when he agreed to write the foreword.


The QE2 book evolved when Cunard announced that QE2 was to be retired. Rather than just a photographic tour it became a tribute to QE2 in pictorial form. Renamed QE2: A Photographic Journey it was published by The History Press in time for QE2’s farewell season and started being sold aboard in August 2008. It has over 200 unique photographs taken by Rachelle and myself covering all areas of the ship including all public rooms, cabins, restaurants, lounges, bars, The Bridge, Engine Room, Stores and images of QE2 in ports around the world. The photographs are supported by narrative describing the rooms.


The book was a great success and we were very fortunate to be aboard QE2 in September 2008 to sign copies (I was lecturing aboard). Due to the success of the book our publisher commissioned us to extend the series and with this we’ve since written QM2: A Photographic Journey and Queen Victoria: A Photographic Journey. While these ships are still in service, the books follow a similar format in that they celebrate the Cunard Queens in pictorial form. Most of the photographs within the books are taken by us.


We have just been signed to write Queen Elizabeth: A Photographic Journey which will be released in 2012.


It’s been a lot of fun, and the positive feedback from passengers, customers and enthusiasts alike has been overwhelming. We’ve had such a wonderful time photographing the ships, researching their histories and sailing aboard.


Aside from our own Photographic Journey series, we’ve written two books for “The Story Series”. This series offers a concise history of famous iconic things, such as Concorde, Titanic, Apollo or in our case, QE2 and QM2. The QE2 Story was released in 2009 while The QM2 Story will be released this October. A third addition, The Cunard Story has just been commissioned and we’ll have this one written by 2011 for release later that year. It is a great challenge to write the Cunard story in 120 pages, but one we’re very keen to tackle!


All the books can be seen at: 
http://www.chriscunard.com/cunard_books.php

You  can get a taste of his photographs at: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chriscunard/collections

You can follow him on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/chriscunard/