JANUARY 2019 No 2 The 2018 Members' Exhibition produced some outstanding visual art images including the gold medal winning entry “Autumn” from Kirsteen Titchener that I think we will all remember for a very long time – so congratulations to Kirsteen on “an unusual and intriguing image: aesthetically beautiful and yet thought provoking, …… the beautiful lighting and the execution of the image make it an outstanding piece of work” (Linda Wevill FRPS). All selected images were listed on the website and reproduced in high quality in the summer edition of the magazine (154 / 2018 / 2). On another note dear to everyone’s heart is the question of subscription fees. Although the RPS has reduced the central funding assistance to its special interest groups we have been able to hold our own fees at the existing level for another year: £15 per member.
Deep in thought by John Lewis LRPS Gold Medal winner 2019
Happy New Year to all our members and welcome to the Visual Art Group’s second newsletter. 2018 was a good year for us including the production of three stunning magazines very kindly edited for us by Nicki Gwynn-Jones FRPS and Linda Wevill FRPS and designed by Paul Mitchell FRPS. The magazines are always an inspiration and a delight to have. In addition we have delivered successful and enjoyable Spring and Autumn residential weekends in Alnwick (Northumberland) and Wareham (Dorset) respectively. More about these events can be found in the form of blogs on our website.
On a disappointing note you will remember that the previous newsletter was a call to members to get involved and support your committee by volunteering and offering time, expertise or help so that we can deliver more events to a wider group of members across the country. Unfortunately, whilst we did receive feedback from a few well-wishers, so 'thank you' to them, we did not receive any volunteering offers. Despite this your committee are working hard to deliver an exciting programme for 2019 and do the best we can within our capacity. Please remember: Everything this group does for you is the work of volunteers!
Call for more Visual Art sub-groups! However, there is evidence in both previous member questionnaires and the popularity of our existing sub-groups that members want day events not too far away where they can meet like-minded individuals as well as listen, watch and learn from experts in the field.
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To achieve this the Visual Art Group needs to have more localised sub-groups who are able to provide an annual programme of events and members' days tailored to local needs. Currently we have two. The South West Visual Art Group established in 2009 is run by Linda Wevill FRPS and regularly hosts between forty and sixty photographers meeting in Bovey Tracey in Devon. Four meetings a year, two with speakers and two members' days cover a broad range of visual art topics from the very creative composite images, studio work, creative nature and landscapes. In response to local members they have also organised creative Photoshop workshops. This programme of events has been described by members as easily the best photography days in the south-west.
The 2019 Members' Print Exhibition Open: 16th February - 9th March Hours: 9.00 – 17.00 Tuesday-Saturday Croydon Clocktower Museum Katherine Street Croydon CR9 1ET Free entrance Our annual print exhibition roadshow is now well underway. We have received 405 images and from these 107 have been independently judged and selected for public display. Selectors for this year were: Micki Aston LRPS CPAGB, Eddie Morton ARPS FDPS and Gillian Morgan ARPS DPAGB
Following this format the more recent Rollright Visual Art Group set up by Andreas Klatt ARPS in the wilderness of Central England, has now been running for nearly four years. At its autumn meeting in November the Rollright had to cap attendance for the first time – sixty being the limit for a social crowd.
AWARDS The following submissions to the 2019 Members' Print Exhibition gained special recognition from the selectors.
On a national level the Visual Art Group aims to deliver a necessarily limited number of events per year, but we can never provide what can be achieved by a localised network of sub-groups across the country.
SELECTORS AWARD - Micki Aston Roger Ford FRPS Horseboy Freckles
So if you and a small number of friends and/or fellow photographers are keen to pursue this the Visual Art Group committee will give you support and help as required, including financial support to cover initial set up costs, and both Andreas and Linda will be happy to share their experiences, difficulties, rewards and successes. Please contact any member of the committee if you think that you might be interested in taking this forward. You will not be left on your own! We look forward to hearing from you.
RPS GOLD MEDAL WINNER John Lewis LRPS Deep in Thought
SELECTORS AWARD - Gill Morgan Lynda Mudle-Small ARPS The High Moorland SELECTORS AWARD - Eddie Morton John Timbrell ARPS Escalator Blur and Bystander HIGHLY COMMENDED Fred Barrington ARPS Gloomy Sandwich Andrew Wood ARPS Boy on a Train Mike Longhurst ARPS Solitary Pursuit
Janie Chapman Secretary: RPS Visual Art Group
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JANUARY 2019 No 2 COMMENDED Marilyn Taylor ARPS Twisting into the Light John Hoskins ARPS Age Gap Martin Ridout LRPS Breakwater
OPENING CEREMONY The awards ceremony and official opening of the exhibition will be undertaken by the Chief Operating Officer of The Royal Photographic Society, Mike Taylor. If you would also like to join us afterwards for a buffet lunch at 1.00pm at the nearby Croydon Park Hotel you will need to purchase a ticket before the day. Tickets cost £22 per person from David Wood ARPS. The lunch booking form is available on our website. We very much look forward to seeing you for both. Following on from Croydon a smaller selection of prints will join the annual exhibition of the Richmond and Twickenham Photographic Society (featuring between 400-500 prints and a continuous PDI display which includes work from local photography students). So well worth a visit if you are in the locality. Open: 11th April – 22nd April Hours: 10.30 – 17.30 (may vary) Landmark Arts Centre Ferry Road Teddington TW11 9NN Entrance £2 From Twickenham the selected prints will make their way to Edinburgh where in August they will form part of the 157th Edinburgh International Exhibition of Photography, organised by the Edinburgh Photographic Society for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. (www.edinburghphotosalon.org.uk for more details).
However the committee are very conscious that for those of you who live outside London and Edinburgh we need to do more. Therefore we are working to find suitable additional venues in other parts of the country to showcase the whole exhibition. Gallery and exhibition spaces are booked well into the future so we are already looking forward towards our programme for 2020, but we can announce that the 2019 full exhibition will also be shown at The Point in Doncaster during December 2019. The Point, home to Doncaster Community Arts, is a contemporary art gallery and café close to the town centre which has already been used for the RPS Biennial Exhibition in 2017. We are confident that this location will provide a quality and inspiring viewing experience and a suitable finale to our 2019 exhibition roadshow.
Open: 6th December – 21st December Hours: 10.00 – 19.00 (may vary) The Point South Parade Doncaster DN1 2DR Free entrance
Residential Weekends 2019 Spring 2019 Dates: 5th April – 8th April Location: Windsor Autumn 2019 Dates: 27th – 30th September 2019 Location: Liverpool As predicted the Spring weekend in Windsor has proved very popular and places were booked up very quickly. For those of you not able to attend we will, as usual, keep you informed through our blogs on the website.
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The Autumn weekend in Liverpool promises to be just as popular. We will be joined by speakers and workshop leaders such as Nat Coalson ARPS, Carol Emmas and Michael Pritchard FRPS. Our base will be the Atlantic Tower Hotel, opposite the Royal Liver Building and overlooking the historic waterfront. The city is a hot destination, and we will aim to do it justice. More details will be released as soon as possible, and the event will become bookable after the Windsor weekend in April. If you have not participated in one of our residential weekends before, feel free to contact Andreas Klatt on 01608 684848 or email at visualart@rps.org – you have no idea what you've been missing!
Notice of the Annual General Meeting The AGM provides the opportunity for visual art members to stand for election to the committee or to nominate suitable others. The positions for which elections are held are Chair, Secretary and Treasurer together with up to ten general members who also have specific roles and responsibilities. Nominations for election to the Committee need to be put forward in writing by not less than two other members of the Group. Such nominations, and the written consent of the nominee must be received not less than fourteen days before the date of the AGM ( so the 22nd of March) In the event of the number of nominations being greater than the number of posts to be filled, an election will be held at the AGM. If you are interested in standing for the Committee and would like more information on the duties involved please contact Andreas Klatt as below. The 2019 AGM of the RPS Visual Art Group will be held at 21:00 on Friday 5th April 2019 at the De Vere Beaumont Estate, Burfield Road, Old Windsor, Berkshire SL4 2JJ.
Relevant papers including an annual report and a committee nomination form will be filed on the website in due course.
And finally ‌ our green credentials. As part of all of our responsibilities towards the care of the planet we think that the magazine should no longer be mailed in traditional polythene bags. Instead copies have now started to go out in eco-friendly biodegradable film. Although this is a costlier option, we think you will approve.
Useful Contacts Chairman: Andreas Klatt ARPS t: 01608 684848 e: visualart@rps.org Secretary: Janie Chapman LRPS t: 01327 342226 e: visualartsec@rps.org Exhibition: Robert Charnock t: 02085 704116 e: rjchrnock@hotmail.com Membership Secretary: Mark Deutsch t: 07736 480227 e: mrkdeutsch@aol.com Web editor: Michael Butterworth LRPS t: 01295 710348 e: visualartweb@rps.org Portfolios: Gill Dishart ARPS t: 01332 874841 e: gill@dishart.plus.com
Website address http://www.rps.org/special-interestgroups/visual-art
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