Melinda Camber Porter


Melinda Camber Porter was a British artist, author, poet, journalist and filmmaker. Porter was a modernist who worked in oils, watercolor and ink. She was known for combining the mediums of film, painting and writing.
Her works have been shown at The School of Visual Arts in New York, Oxford University, the Embassy of France, La Maison Francaise and Lincoln Center's Clark Theatre. Her paintings, poetry and films have been critically well received. As a journalist, Porter interviewed renowned writers, artists and filmmakers of the past several decades for The Times.

Early Life and education

Melinda Camber was born on 18 September 1953 in London and grew up on Wimpole Street. Her father was a psychoanalyst who kept his offices in the family home in the center of London's medical district. From early on, she was exposed to the arts, frequenting the National Gallery, and immersing herself in drawing and painting. At age 6, she was given William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Experience which would later influence her visual style of writing.
She attended school at the City of London School for Girls and was awarded scholarships to both Oxford and Cambridge. In honour of this, the school granted the students a day off, a privilege normally reserved only for the death of royalty. She chose Oxford and earned a First Class Honours degree in Modern Languages, graduating from Lady Margaret Hall in 1974. After graduation, she met John Robert Porter, the son of Sir Leslie Porter and Dame Shirley Porter; the couple wed in Paris and lived on the Quai Voltaire overlooking the Louvre. The marriage ended after five years and Camber Porter relocated to New York in 1982.

Family life

Porter married her second husband, Joseph Flicek, on 2 July 1985 in his native South Dakota and honeymooned in China. She based a series of paintings and the novel Floating Boundary on the trip to China. Frequent visits with Flicek's family in South Dakota inspired her novel, Badlands. The couple divided their time between Manhattan and Sag Harbor. Porter and Flicek had two sons. After Porter
was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, the family took up permanent residence in Sag Harbor for her convalescence. Porter died on 9 October 2008 at the age of 55.

Early career

While in Paris, Porter was a French cultural correspondent for The Times. She interviewed many notable figures including François Truffaut and Louis Malle. She profiled directors Mike Nichols and Ingmar Bergman. A number of these interviews became part of her book, Through Parisian Eyes: Reflections on Contemporary French Arts and Culture.

Publications

Fine Art

Following Porter's death in 2008, her husband Joe Flicek organised an informal advisory committee, to help organise and publish her work.

Public Exhibitions

Melinda Camber Porter reported on French cultural life for The Times in the 70s and 80s. Many of these pieces were later included in the book Through Parisian Eyes.