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Dave Dixon LRPS - Dirty Pictures
As Dave was quick to point out at the beginning of his talk, the term dirty pictures is not a euphemism for smut, but exactly what it says; it is about the photographic opportunities of dirt, grime and decay. The locations varied from decay in rural buildings no longer in use to urban decay in Newcastle and London. One outstanding venue for the photographer interested in this subject is Antwerp Mansion in Manchester. Although many of the images were in the same place the view when revisited is usually different because of temporising measures such as painting over graffiti, and other interventions to manage the vision of decline.
Although superficially it might look as though anyone might turn up in these environments and get interesting images, there was clear evidence throughout of Dave’s skill in finding things he wanted to portray and what lens and what angle to use. A very wide-angle lens had been used in many locations, which makes the environment look more spacious, but it has been cleverly done to avoid distortion. It was a very good talk delivered confidently and with humour by someone who has both a mastery and an enthusiasm for his subject.
Report by George Nasmyth
Two Members’ Evenings on two consecutive weeks but both were very different!
Tony Wright only joined the Club in September but is already making headway in the Print and PDI leagues with his competition entries. Tony moved to the North East from the London area 18 months ago but his love of photography goes back to his childhood – he started his presentation with some of the photographs of family members which inspired him. Tony was a wedding photographer for many years and he showed us the natural shots he enjoyed taking at the weddings. Other images included photographs of the flora and fauna in his own garden as well as some superb landscapes. Tony has been successful in national competitions and has also had articles in publications such as Outdoor Photography.
A week later we had another presentation by a newish member, Sam Quigg. Sam joined the Club last season and his images took us across different countries including Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland and Canada. As a former teacher in Northern Ireland and outward bound enthusiast, many of the images were taken on trips with pupils and involved some superb shots of mountains, hills and lakes, including some amazing shots of pupils scaling mountains at huge heights! Sam’s enthusiasm for walking, climbing, hiking as well as photography and getting the best out of young people shone through in his images.
Thanks to both Tony and Sam for their interesting presentations – I am sure we will be seeing much more of their photography in the months ahead!
Report by Jackie Stent
Harry Hall Ma PhD FRPS - Documentary versus Street Photography
The concept of this talk arose from getting into discussions about strict definitions which could be used to distinguish what was Documentary and what was Street photography. Not surprisingly it was quite thought provoking, but whether it achieved its objective of creating a clear-cut distinction between these two terms was unclear to me at least.
The talk started with a rapid projection of 22 images some of them notable by being images by such masters of these genres as Dorothea Lange, taken in the great depression in the USA. This was followed by increasingly rapid projection of overlying words. This led to a general discussion about the impact of words and images and whether an image conveyed a similar or greater meaning than words. Re looking at these images after first looking at two images, the first was of Threadneedle Street from the Bank of England and was in all probability taken more than a hundred years ago, this assumption being based on the working uniform of bankers at the time being top hats and tails! There was only one vehicle in the picture which was horse drawn which may suggest 150 years ago. The second was taken at Henley Station in the week of the Royal Regatta with all the gents in white flannels, blazers and straw hats. Having been to Henley on the train myself, last time about 8 years ago, the uniforms of the attendees may not have changed as much as one might think – but certainly today there is a greater variety. We then saw some images of a Scottish photographer of the late 19th century, John Thomson, which gave an impression of the grimness of life at that time for the great majority of working people – leading to the suggestion that Documentary photography is about the story. Building on that theme we moved from 19th century life amongst the poor of Scotland to a current enterprise in Zanzibar where Dhows are manufactured still using techniques that are thousands of years old. Whilst the craftsmen were not wholly absent from the images of Dhow construction the next example of Documentary photography was a series of monochrome images from a charity which resurrected old bicycles – aptly named “recycle your bike”. These were interesting in that the character and the foibles of different individuals shone through, from their faces the perfectionist to the meticulous and in the organisation of their working environment. There were then a fascinating series of pictures taken in a foodbank, although images which showed the client’s face were routinely deleted. Again, as in the bike recycling, the images were largely mono, probably from a feeling that colour in this environment might be distracting. We did go back to colour for the next section which looked at nomadic tribes of Himalayan plateau, and the pressures which were driving these people from their environment of their forebears into towns where opportunities for their children were much better. The images did help to tell the story, but Harry’s narrative was probably important as well.
We now shifted to some images of “one off” street scenes, mostly but not exclusively with people included as well. There was an element of surprise in the images, the suggestion that the subjects were caught unawares, but I didn’t find these images so different from those we had seen already that categorising them as street photography was appropriate. We then went on to look at two contrasting groups of images; “street artists at the Edinburgh Festival” and “Newcastle during COVID 19 Lockdown”. They were interesting and effective images but very definitely at the story telling end of the spectrum, and whilst I could understand the power of the photograph in telling a story, and was not inaccurately called Documentary Photography, I was left unclear as to what Street Photography was and how it differed.
Report by George Nasmyth
David Southern - Shoreline - intimate landscapes of the Northumbrian Coast
David initially gave an overview of his success in recent years including a Natural Landscape Award and a Project Award related to his photographic book, “Shoreline”.
He gave us an outline of what he had been doing and that we weren’t to expect many seascapes and Castles. His main subject material had been Seaweed, Sand, Some seabirds and Geology. The first section of his talk was entirely on seaweed, and wet learnt something of the different types and the names for the different parts of this very common shoreline ‘plant’ which is important ecologically and grows for some distance out from the shore. David’s attention was centred on living seaweed as opposed to the dead remnants washed up the beach after a storm. The best time of year for seaweed is in spring and early summer when there is a lot of growth and little storm damage. Most of his images were taken at a low tidal phase but with at least a couple of inches of water covering the plant. The best conditions are a bright slightly hazy day with a placid sea. He used a macro lens focal length 100 mm, and supported the camera on a tripod - protecting his own feet with “wellingtons”. The variety and beauty of the shots of different types of seaweed usually covering an area of no more than a few square feet was tremendous, with very artistic curves and colouring - all achieved in camera with little, if any, post processing. But for many if not all these shots a polarising filter was employed. He included some segments of A-V in the presentation with a careful choice of music which added to the beauty and tranquility of the images.
The second subject was Sand. These images captured the effect of the wind and the tide on the sand, creating different effects with almost desert like qualities on the one hand and ripples of sand with parallel channels of water in between. Places where Human footfall is low are much easier for this and he showed some images of sand undefiled by humans or their best friends (dogs) at Goswick and Ross Sands opposite Holy Island.
After Sand we moved to birds and this was probably the shortest section, but there were some very good images of nesting kittiwakes, terns, razorbills as well as an obligatory puffin.
The final section of the talk was almost as extensive as the seaweed and concerned detailed images of sea washed rocks with different colours and shapes to the underlying sedimentary layers. Again timing is important and he did admit to having one accessory for some of these very beautiful shots - a brush. The light too is important and light which is too contrasty needs to be avoided.
Altogether it was an excellent talk, with many stunning images and countless visits to explore the best location and the best light.
Report by George Nasmyth
"What I Did Last Year" was the theme of the October Members’ Night at Alnwick and District Camera Club. 8 members did short presentations about projects and visits they had been involved in over the previous 12 months.
Steve Read showed images from our local area taken during a visit by his family from Australia – although familiar to us, the images were seen through their eyes which gave a different perspective.
Dawn Robertson’s images were more abstract in nature as she had been trying something new having been inspired by the photographs of Valda Bailey.
Cramond near Edinburgh was Dave Dixon’s destination – a little known area with some stunning places and views just waiting to be photographed.
Lynda Wearn decided on a different approach by choosing one photo for each month of the year – they involved local events, family images and holiday destinations.
John Thompson showed images from his local town of Morpeth and also from a holiday in Bologna – 2 very different areas!
Passau was the destination for George Nasmyth – spectacular views and interesting interiors of churches and cathedrals.
Geoffrey Bradford had visited Amsterdam – well known for being a photogenic city but Geoffrey had some more unusual images as well.
Finally Stanley Trafford showed some excellent images of the recent Aurora, taken from his own street and garden.
Thanks to all involved – a varied and interesting evening for everyone!
Report by Jackie Stent
3 demonstrations were on offer to ADCC members on this first practical night of the season. In a recent questionnaire, members had asked for more workshops of this nature and the Committee has included more members/practical nights in the current season.
George Nasmyth demonstrated what could be done with images using Lightroom.
Jane Coltman demonstrated how to group images together for a presentation or talk using Photoshop and Canva.
Carol McKay demonstrated how to manipulate raw images and turn them into jpgs/tiffs using Bridge, a tool in Photoshop.
Each demo lasted about 20 minutes so members had the chance to see all 3 during the evening. There were lots of questions and conversations going on round the tables – hopefully everyone learnt something new!
Report by Jackie Stent
Edward Forster and Tony Shepherdson brought with them a huge number of prints, which were predominantly black and white and mostly printed digitally, but a few that we saw first were wet processed. Tony started the evening and explained that they regularly go out together in a small group in the evening with a view to taking pictures, but always home by 8.30pm in the interests of their personal safety. We were shown a huge range of images taken at local venues in very differing conditions, that included a night walk and a tunnel near the Tyne Bridge to a copse of Beech trees very close to their home in Whickham. There were several in misty conditions which had an ethereal quality and showed a mastery of technique to make the most of very simple subjects. There were a collection of Lake District landscapes that showed how to use a foreground in landscape with excellent images of Buttermere, Castle Rigg, Catbells, Causey Pike and Derwent Water. He also showed some excellent images taken on an i-phone. He then took us to Cuba, where there was a lot of poverty although the people seemed happy enough. The grittiness of this subject matter was served well by the use of monochrome.
A preliminary set of prints was put up taken at a show in the west of the county with hounds jumping dry stone walls, traditional wrestling as well as shots of the prize winners.
After a break we heard from Edward who also showed images with a wide variety of subject matter, and he shared his experience with Kodak Infra Red Film and Lith Film. There were interesting examples of shapes and textures from the Guggenheim in Bilbao as well as night photography in Newcastle, especially in alleyways and underpasses. He also shared some images of a ~Victorian re-enactment at Tanfield, enhanced by Victorian photo- effect. He concluded with some photographs of American Dance bands and a holiday in Japan. The latter was not what one expects from a Japanese holiday; this one was about bicycles, trains and Zebra Crossings – but nonetheless telling important stories and very interesting.
Report by George Nasmyth
The latest meeting of Alnwick and District Camera Club actively involved all the members present as it was the Print Knockout Competition. Members submitted prints on a range of subjects and the organisers (George and Val) then mixed them all up before displaying them in pairs. A show of hands from everyone for each image then decided which one would go through to the next round. The evening is very light hearted and led to some discussion, even though there had to be a winner at the end!
Third place was tied by Val Atkinson “Tuscan Street” and Tony Wright “Bridge to Rainbow’s End” - having received the same number of votes in the final round, it was agreed to award them joint third place. Well done to Tony, a new member of the Club!
Second place went to “Dunstanburgh Sunset” by David Burn – another stunning landscape from him.
First place was awarded to Richard Stent for a mono image “Charles Bridge, Prague” - an unusual view of the bridge from a tower, looking down on the people below.
Well done to everyone and thanks to Val and George for running the session.
Report by Jackie Stent
Although Alnwick and District Camera Club do not hold formal meetings during the summer, we do run our Wednesday Wanders programme – a series of weekly walks round local places throughout May, June, July and August. Destinations vary but this year included Newcastle, Amble, Warkworth, Ingram Valley, Holy Island, Blyth, Norham and even the Blacksmiths at Red Row. The weather proved unhelpful at times so our annual trip to the Farne Islands was cancelled – always a popular destination.
Our second meeting of the season involved members sharing some of their images from the Wednesday Wanders walks and talking about their photos. Over a hundred photographs were viewed and it was nice to talk about the places visited. Members also shared their views about the walks as a review process to help inform next year’s programme.
Thanks go to Mike and Lynda for putting the programme together but, as they are standing down from this task, we are looking for someone to take over this role for 2025.
Report by Jackie Stent
4th September was the opening night of the new season at Alnwick and District Camera Club. Members were welcomed by our new Chairman, Lynda Wearn, and she then proceeded with her Chairman’s Night presentation.
Lynda and her husband had visited Namibia in 2018 and she shared some of the many photos she had taken on the trip. Images included animals, landscapes, people and, something a little different, the biggest crater and meteorite in the world! A visit to an orphanage was included in the trip and there were also photos of some happy children wearing their new hats and jumpers and playing with their puppets – all donated by the people on the tour.
Thank you Lynda for a great start to the 24/25 season!
Report by Jackie Stent
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