We are always appreciative of the effort and time people put in to preparing to talk in a session and when it involves some of our newer members it is also always good event. It was pointed out, however, that now these newer members don't know much about existing members and their work, so we may need to address that in the new year. Many thanks to the seven people who provided a fascinating evening, providing a wide range of interesting images and stories, so that feel we know them better now.
Graham talked about how he has always enjoyed taking images which provide him with memories - of holidays, car events, travel and buildings, starting around 1964. He likes low light images and rarely has people in his pictures, apart from a series on street musicians he has encountered on his travels. One of his images was a beautiful black and white picture which might have been plant roots, or the frost on a window, but was in fact made by lighting electrons, in what sounded quite a complex process.
Janet had found it useful in thinking about her presentation to try to understand just why she does take photographs and what kind she prefers. Her starting point is her own writing which she decided needed illustrating and so she began to take an interest in capturing the essence of places she visited: the environment rather than the people. She described how she has worked on developing themes, such as 'connecting' and 'contrasting', with mini projects along the way looking at clouds, shapes and textures. Most of her images are prints and transparencies and not in the UK, but she managed to show us some of her collection of Japanese Shisas, widely thought to ward off evil and taking many forms, but usually seen in pairs.
Ian was very clear about how he has progressed from travelling with a point and shoot camera to realising the potential of photography and learning step by step about making images which please him. The first image of his presentation was the one he first consciously moved around in order to frame his composition. He moved on to a DSLR and travelled to New York and Dungeness, emulating the styles of photographers he had studied and liked. He remembers being influenced by exhibitions and books and by such people as Martin Parr and William Eggleston, so that now he looks for light and shade, new angles and shadows. He is looking forward to the story-telling project.
Mary-Frances also described a journey of discovery and learning as she developed her own style of producing prints as tangible art objects. She always uses black and white film and for her, the dark room is the fun part. She has lived abroad extensively and mixed with photographers in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, mainly on reportage and documentary work. However, once she retired and had more time she has morphed into a fine art photographer, working on natural images and abstractions from nature. She works in series, producing prints with the advice and help of a master printer and showing her portfolio, a Leparello, a concertina style small black display of her images, which she brought to show us.
John was an architecture student and needed images as part of his work, and, as you do, went out and bought himself a Leica rangefinder camera in order to take his pictures. He took mainly transparencies and started to really enjoy it to the extent that he was advised he was better at photography than at architecture. He likes to take elevations of buildings and keep his lines straight, but he also aims to capture the atmosphere of a place, such as churches and the London Eye. Like several speakers this evening, there are not many people in his work, except as part of his Battersea Park landscapes. He entered a travel competition and was one of the top five, just missing the first prize of a world wide trip.
Debbie is one of our newest members and came straight from the airport in order to contribute to the programme tonight. She has travelled widely and likes to have people in her photos whenever she can, though aware of some of the cultural sensitivities about privacy and photography. She started taking images as part of her writing a blog and learned by attending many photography courses. She showed us a selection of her images of Soviet architecture and the changes happening in the places she visits.
Michael was the last speaker of the evening and and perhaps the person who started photography the earliest, at ten years old. He bought his own first camera when he was fourteen and confessed that he was a trainspotter. He has then always developed and improved his photography and has even taken wedding photos on Tower Bridge, as a result of which he joined the SWPP and enjoyed many of their courses. After retiring, he has travelled a great deal and had an exhibition of US landscapes, joining Kennington Camera Club and making use of their studio space to pursue portrait and and fashion shots, with models.
We do enjoy finding out more about our members and where their photography has taken them and might take them in the future. Many thanks to you all for your interesting presentations and we look forward to the evening when we hear everyone's new year resolutions for moving forward.