November 2023 No. 19
WELCOME TO OUR AUTUMN NEWSLETTER I hope you are all well and finding some time for your photography. As I write this, Guernsey is being battered by storm Ciaran (as I’m sure many of you are). You may be interested to know as a small Island we have been advised to stay home. The shops, airport, schools etc are all closed. The main cargo ships have all been moved to the south of England and the aeroplanes moved to the north of England as the winds are forecast to peak at 104mph hurricane force. We are not expected to get any fresh food now for 2-3 days (at least) depending on the winds - the shops are now empty as they hold no stock (like yours in the UK). The high tide is supposed to come with a 9 metre swell, so flooding for some is expected. Just thought you may be interested…..and no, I won’t be going out until the wind has calmed down. Photography can wait! Stay safe.
Carol Paes ARPS
DSLR camera and lenses. In this talk Mary will talk you through how to photograph constellations, the Milky Way, meteor showers, aurora, star trails and other objects using a variety of different lenses. It comes with a free PDF summary guide.
The Moon is our nearest Solar System neighbour and is a fascinating world to study. This talk takes you through how to image the Moon. It primarily covers imaging with DSLR cameras with different lenses, but there is a short section at the end covering how to image the Moon through a telescope. It comes with a free PDF summary guide.
th
ROLLRIGHT MEETING - 25 NOVEMBER 2023
We have two wonderful speakers for our final meeting of the year in Long Compton. Taking the morning slot will be Mary McIntyre FRAS presenting two topics on her fabulous astronomy photographs. The first part will be Astrophotography Without a Telescope, followed by Lunar Photography. Mary writes There is a misconception that you need to have an expensive telescope and thousands of pounds worth of equipment to do astrophotography.
However, there are many things you can photograph in the night sky using just a basic
Tom Lee, Grand Master of Photography, FRPS, FMIPP, FSWPP, CrSWPP will take the afternoon session showing his Orotones process and other works, including his
November 2023 No. 19 fantastic and highly creative Fantasy photographs.
Orotones date back to the early 1900s and were made popular by Edward Sheriff Curtis who sold Orotones from his studio in Seattle until 1920 then in Los Angeles quite successfully until the 1930s when they became less popular. There was a revival of interest in the 1970s and in 2021 Bonhams sold the Curtis "The Scout – Apache," 1906 for $17,800. Tom will talk through the reasoning behind why he uses this particular process, showing his successful RPS Fellowship Panel in Visual Arts and the making of digital negatives in order to produce images on glass plates, including a video showing the complete process.
His fantasy pictures are complex layered multiple images, dream-like, artistic and imaginative. Both speakers promise a day of technical brilliance and beautiful creative and inspiring images. We meet in the Long Compton Village Hall in North Oxfordshire, post code CV36 5JS Cost £13, tea, coffee and cakes included. Please remember to bring your own packed lunch. I am hoping that the difficulties we had last time with online booking have been resolved so please book on line via the Visual Art Group events page on the RPS website. You do not have to be an RPS member to use this facility, but you will have to set up an account (not the same as your RPS membership login). If you do have problems, we will of course accept payment on the door. Our meetings are open to all, including nonVisual Art and non-RPS members. If you know of anyone who might be interested in what we have to offer, please pass this information onto them and encourage them to come along. Barry Barker FRPS
MIKES ARCHITECTURAL SHORTS, NUMBER ONE. James Stirling’s Post Modernist masterpiece.
I’ve seen some superb images of the wonderful rock strata at Spittal beach shown on our site recently, indeed I’ve spent many productive hours there myself in the last few months and more often than not came away with wet feet and a backache. In one way or another we all search for interesting shapes
November 2023 No. 19 and patterns and the rock strata around the U.K. are particularly rich in these variegated forms so we zero in on places such as Spittal beach, Lantic bay Cornwall and indeed many other bays along the Cornwall and Dorset coast.
The site owner Peter Palumbo looked at another option which was a modernist minor skyscraper designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the manner of the Seagram Building in New York City – but it was dropped having failed in an influential architectural and planning show-down in the 1970s which was further denounced by Prince (now King) Charles in his 1984 "carbuncle" speech to RIBA, viewing such a plan as "yet another giant glass stump, better suited to downtown Chicago than the City of London" hence Stirling’s No.1 Poultry was conceived.
But by way of contrast, the shots in this short article are images of strata taken, not at Spittal, but in Central London at one of the most beautiful examples of Post Modernist Architecture I know and a personal favourite of mine. No.1 Poultry. I’ve also added some broader shots of the exterior for context. Stirling’s distinctive structure is clad, both internally and externally, with the most beautifully selected panels of Limestone in tones of pink and beige/yellow, each with the most wonderful, variegated patterns.
Designed by James Stirling in 1985 but not completed until after his death in ‘97 by his previous partner Michael Wilford and his group it’s a grade two listed building and occupies the apex where the eastern ends of Poultry and Queen Victoria Street meet at Mansion House Street.
November 2023 No. 19 Replacing John Belchers old Mappin and Webb building that previously stood there I know that it’s still hated by some, but personally, I think there are very few buildings that equal its beauty and staring up at its wedge shape with its curved and angular forms topped by that beautiful clock tower I find it hard to be anything but in awe of it.
What's the catch. Nothing at all. So long as you're a paid-up member of the Visual Art Group, you qualify to join a VAG Circle for free and circulate your images regularly. If you're interested, just email Gill Dishart who coordinates the circles. Email Gill@dishart.plus.com Gill Dishart ARPS
GODFREY BOWDEN
Keep an open mind, it’s well worth a visit next time you’re down that way and on a good day you can access far more than I’ve shown here including a wonderful roof garden and restaurant. No.1 Poultry, London EC2R 8EJ Mike Kitchingman LRPS
UPDATE ON THE CIRCLES Thinking of something to do in the long winter evenings that are approaching? Plan ahead. Join via email with a friendly group of fellow photographers, exchange comments on your images, and enjoy your photography more, knowing that others appreciate it too. Or, if you're a comparative new comer, join anyway and show them you're keen to benefit from their experience, to enjoy their images and make your own pictures even better! Email Circles operate on a monthly basis and have no extra charge at all, while joining the Print Circle will simply cost you your own postage in sending out your small prints.
We are sad to announce that one of our members has recently died. Godfrey had been a member of both the email and print circles for many year. VAG friends have many very good memories of his contributions to the Circles and the good advice he generously gave others. Godfrey inspired others by his ability to conjure up interesting pictures even when his mobility was so compromised including from his hospital bed after suffering a fall. Godfrey loved rowing and shared great action shots from Henley to the circles over the years. His background was in industrial chemistry which served him well in the days of film. VAG will miss his contribution but he will be remembered through his creative images and the inspiration he gave to those who continue of their own photographic journey. Val Glenny
VISUAL ART SOUTHWEST GROUP MEETING SATURDAY, 18TH NOVEMBER 2023 (10 am – 4pm) VICTORY HALL, BROADCLYST, EX5 3EE RPS SW Visual Art Group will meet again on Saturday, 18th November 2023 at Victory Hall, Broaclyst (near Exeter). The event will start with a presentation from Tony Worobiec FRPS. Tony is a Fine Art photographer and a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. He studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and having spent 18 years as Head of a large design faculty in Dorset, Tony left teaching to concentrate on photography and writing. Author of 17 books, Tony regularly writes articles for photographic magazines in UK and abroad. He has won awards for photography
November 2023 No. 19 in the UK and internationally and his work is in the permanent collections of The Royal Photographic Society and The Fox Talbot Museum. Tony is also an assessor on the Visual Art Panel of the RPS. More information can be found at https:// www.tonyworobiec.com/about.html
visualartsouthwest@rps.org The event is open to RPS Members and Non-Members. Cost £8 (this includes Refreshments – Coffee/ Tea/Biscuits). Payment: Cash at the Door/ On-line payment - click on the below link: https://events.rps.org/ en/autumn-2023-vag-south-west-3a2NN2HdZ/ overview Marija Lees LRPS
PEER SUPPORT GROUP The VA Peer Support Group is thriving, but my commitments to RPS Exhibitions Group has taken over my time somewhat! I announced my intention to hold meetings until December this year, during which time a successor needed to be found for hosting purposes.
The title of Tony’s presentation is “The Water’s Edge”. This presentation is largely a celebration of the British coast. Tony will be discussing a variety of techniques one may wish to use in such locations. The presentation finishes off with a few images taken abroad illustrating how the skills acquired photographing the British coast can be applied else-where. Tony believes that no other genre of photography can better reflect the vagaries of weather – “presenting an interrupted panorama, the skies one can witness from the water's edge are unparalleled”.
As yet, no one has come forward so the last meeting will be held in December. There is still time for my replacement to take over with a smooth transition. Please contact me directly (tomleephoto@me.com) if interested in taking over and I will give every assistance to the incoming host and will not be disappearing completely. If another host cannot be found, it is regrettable that this valuable resource to members may be lost. Prospective A and F distinctions panels continue to be discussed and a few reviews of others who are well on their way to assessments. It is encouraging that newly qualified L members have also found their way to the group, indicating that the Peer Group serves its purpose, and would be a shame if it were not to continue. The attendees on the Peer Support Group do not offer advice, but act as a sounding board to enable informed decisions prior to going for a 1-2-1 review. Photography has never been a cheap pursuit, so it can be vital when support is offered for free with no strings attached. I’m glad that we can offer this service to anyone within the VAG, no matter what their eventual genre submission or eventual outcome.
The presentation will be digital; however, Tony will also bring some prints for display. The afternoon session is planned for participants to show and tell their work which can be prints or DPIs. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Marija Lees at
The Peer Group meets over a Zoom call usually the first Sunday in each month, so look out for notifications in the newsletter and on the VAG Facebook page. If you wish to be added to the groups circulation list or just want to find out more, send me an email at tomleephoto@me.com
November 2023 No. 19
EXHIBITIONS So far, the VAG has held three successful exhibitions showing work from the 2023 intake, with several authors able to sell their work. A fourth exhibition was due to be held in December, however, due to events beyond our control this has now been deferred until 29th January next year. The Heseltine Gallery, Chenderit School, Archery Road, Middleton Cheney, Banbury, OX17 2QR, will be the last chance to view the current exhibition. Details are on the VAG web pages so please support us by attending if you can.
Some of the current committee met at Gallery Photiq in Leamington Spa during September to view the exhibition there and hold a meeting with Laura Gardner from the Volunteer and Member Support section.
The awarded entries are listed below and a complete list of accepted submissions will be posted on the VAG website and in the next VA magazine Marilyn Taylor FRPS Looking Out Over The Forest Gold Medal Liz Scott ARPS Dancing Leaves Paul Mitchell FRPS Selectors Choice Paul O’Flanagan LRPS Patchwork Building Tessa Mills FRPS Selectors Choice Val Glenny Dying Art Ray Spence FRPS Selectors Choice Lorna Brown FRPS Vinery Blues
Highly Commended
Things are accelerating fast on the 2024 Exhibition front also….
Janet Downes LRPS Highly Commended Weathered Jars
Selections for the 2024 travelling exhibition took place in Oxfordshire on 8th October under the expert eyes of Paul Mitchell FRPS, Tessa Mills FRPS and Ray Spence FRPS. Once again selectors set high standards as befitting any exhibition that represents the RPS and its membership.
Neil Scott FRPS The White Book Michael Sayer ARPS Look to the Horizon
Highly Commended
Commended
November 2023 No. 19
Paul Adams ARPS Dada Dadam And Eve
to be secure overnight when they may be unattended! Commended
Derwood Pamphilon ARPS Commended Big Red Dress
Tom Lee FRPS
VISUAL ART - NORTH GROUP Thank you to everyone who has contributed images during 2023 from any of the Visual Art North group photo-walks.
Liz Kenny We intend to hold an online Zoom event for all VAG members to celebrate their success in the near future, so keep an eye out for the relevant email and on the VAG FB page for further notifications. Certificates for awarded entries will be issued prior to this event.
Here is just a snapshot of what has been achieved by the members, all images will be shown at our Show and Tell evening on Thursday 23rd November at 19.00pm, online via ZOOM with everyone’s contributions.
The images will be mounted and presented by our exhibitions team prior to our first showing in 2024 and members be notified in the usual way, where these will be held and when you have an opportunity to see these worthy images in person. Details of the 2024 Exhibition dates and venues will be posted on the Visual Art member web pages in due course when all the arrangements have been finalised. Venues for future exhibitions continue to be a source of frustration for the team, with lack of response to requests on exhibition spaces and non-follow-up on what might appear to be a suitable location. I would therefore ask all members that think they have a possible venue capable of displaying approximately 100 prints, to let any of the committee know by email. We are particularly looking at venues between northern and southern areas, so all our membership can have access to the exhibition at least once in the season. If you have a contact name/email this would be advantageous. Remember these venues need
Mary Crowther ARPS The event is free but you need to book a ticket to get your ZOOM link sent. Check the RPS website and VA group for event details https://rps.org/
November 2023 No. 19 We are looking to expand a little further afield, geographically in 2024 to Anglesey with an overnight stay and planned events, if anyone could help with the organising and planning of this one event, we would be most grateful. There are already other proposed events and dates for 2024 photo-walks and if anyone would like to help as a one-day event this would be much appreciated.
VISUAL ART NORTH GROUP An evening of images from photo walks – Morecambe and no rain Photo-Walk:
EXPERIMENTAL OBSESSION When I first picked up a Box Brownie many, many years ago, I got hooked on photography, and have retained a passion for it ever since. Along my photographic journey I have dabbled with varies experimental imagery, especially in the good old darkroom days. But it has only been in the last couple of years that I have been seriously exploring this genre, obsessively so perhaps, and as new RPS member I have enjoyed seeing and been inspired by the great images produced by my fellow members.
Morecambe West End, the art wall, the promenade, stone jetty, wife bell, sailing club building, Sandylands and coast views over to the Cumbrian fells. Interesting buildings: the Alhambra, the Battery, the Library and fishermen's cottages, were all just some of the explorations. Manchester Northern Quarter Photo-Walk: Starting at Mackie Mayor [food court], redeveloped by Muse, Mackie Mayor is the only remaining fully intact building from former Smithfield market. This eclectic, fun welcoming area of the city centre has boundless photo opportunities in exploring this rabbit-warren of shops and architect buildings galore. Each category will show images presented from photographers on the day and we welcome discussion. Cost: FREE [booking required to gain ZOOM link] ZOOM – Talk 19.00 – 20.30 pm Date: Thursday 23rd November 2023 Location: from your location ZOOM link will be provided a week in advance Mary Crowther ARPS visualart@rps.org
Forest Storm When I bought a Fuji X100V a couple of years ago I thought I would fit a soft shutter release button, I decided on a bronze concave one with a seahorse motive. Being unfamiliar with these buttons, I found that it was all too easy to take a shot accidently, the first time I tried it out, was on a woodland walk, I must have brushed against it a few times, and had a few dud shots. I’m glad however, that I didn’t delete them straight away because when viewed on the screen I thought one of them might make a nice abstract, (fig1) “Forest Storm” as taken in camera 1/10 sec f/16, just a few tweaks in post processing, and a large crop. Since then, I never delete any of my duds until have seen them on screen of which I have built up a very large collection. Continuing with the blurred theme, I took (fig2) “Hurry Home” on a chilly winter walk and had in mind an upcoming camera club competition for Winter, inexcusably I didn’t have my camera with me so I took it with my mobile phone when I got back to the warmth of the
November 2023 No. 19 recently with various results. When I first discovered ICM it was way back in the 70s, back then if you wanted to record a night shot of trailing car tail lights for instance, as a streaky abstract it was referred to as accidentally on purpose kicking the tripod leg. After looking at plenty of other people’s ICM images and in particular the stunning work by Roxanne Bouche’ Overton a Fine Art Photographer, I was inspired to create some ICM of my own. I started off by practicing simple movements and a shutter speed of 1/15th and gradually extended the movements and in some cases moved with the flow of the lines of the subject, varied the shutter speed using a ND filter, when necessary, double exposures and blending textures etc. in Ps. I have to keep in mind to take a couple of straight shots or else everything I shoot would be an ICM image.
Hurry Home car and played around with the mobile’s editing I produced what I feel was the impression I wanted to convey of the couple out for a brisk walk on a chilly winter’s day.
Pier impressions Although the Forest Storm shot was an unintentional camera movement, I have been looking at and practicing lots of ICM images
Well It Takes All Sorts Obsessive behavior once again. (fig3) “Pier Impressions” was taken recently early one morning of Bournemouth pier, 1/15th f11
November 2023 No. 19 35mm – equivalent lens and a little adjustment in post-production.
had some interesting results most of which joined my duds folder. The image of the sweets in (fig4) “Well, It takes All Sorts” was my first attempt at focus stacking, after looking up this technique and a few dry runs I came up with this. I set the camera to focus bracket at 100 frames and used 8 divisions, I was aware of the issue of focus drift but hadn’t left enough space at the top, and when I focus stacked-using 80 of the frames in HeliconSoft, it was cropped too close to the top of the sweet, I extended the canvas size at the top but dragging up also pulled the sweet into a yellow blob, so I just changed the background instead. I was pleased with the composition, colours and texture of the sweets, but felt it lacked a bit of drama. So used Radial Blur in Ps and was very pleased with the effect it gave me as you can see in (fig5) I particularly liked the way the strands of colour cascaded down like a waterfall, so I called it “Colourfall.”
Coulourfall Coulourfall I was most impressed with the ICM images taken by David Scrivener LRPS in his recent article in the VAG August newsletter (No18) “Wire ICM Abstract” and also the credited photography David Day. I thought these images were superb and I will definitely have a go at trying something similar, so thank you David for sharing them with us. In my quest for creating abstracts, I looked at many great examples available of macro shots of everyday objects rendered as shape, form and colour. I have not had much experience of ultra close up work. I recently purchased a Zeiss 50mm macro lens (75 eq) for my Fuji XT-2 and looked around for suitable subjects and in some cases also combining these with ICM
A Soft Touch After learning the finer points of ICM, I soon realized the importance of getting just the right amount of movement for the desired
November 2023 No. 19 effect and to follow through the camera movement when taking the shot, and I have found this button a very useful asset. Another use for this little seahorse lucky charm, was when I had an idea for a shot of a lady’s finger with red nail varnish resting on the button, to get this done my Daughter-in-Law, lent me a hand – or should that be finger? Her nails weren’t red that day so I did a colour change in Ps and got the effect I was after, however, because it was fairly close-up and side lit the detail of her finger was too prominent and clinical looking. Once again, I used some blur in Ps and thought that this made it a more striking image as in (fig6) I hope you agree, and I called this one “A Soft Touch” Mike Barton
RESIDENTIAL WEEKENDS Plymouth is full of historical areas, new builds, boats, ferry’s, naval ships, brilliant sea views and over the weekend of 6th - 9th October…It was full of Photographers. (Well ! 50 ish) We landed in Plymouth to warm, sunny weather which continued throughout the weekend, a plus in itself. But factor in some superlative workshops from Charlie Waite, Andy Farrer and Stewart Wall along with presentations from each of them and topped off by the wonderful group of members attending it looked like it would be a great weekend and it was such a pleasure to meet up with you all again. A first for us was a visit from members of the South West Visual Art group and we welcomed Marija Lees the group chair, Sue Brown FRPS and Diane Fifield ARPS, along with some others who attended as day visitors and I hope it will be a start to more inter region activities (I know this has already been instigated by RPS Landscape and DIG with the Talk Walk Talk initiative). After our usual meet up at the bar (where else ) at 17.00 on Friday evening we kicked off with our first ‘Show and tell’ and first up was a beautiful ‘F’ print panel from Linda Wevill FRPS, the second Fellowship that she has been awarded and well worthy of the accolade. Over the weekend we juggled the mix a bit this time, having three workshops instead of two in order to give more people the opportunity of
joining one and hopefully most got on the ones they wanted. We also allowed extra time for show and tell as this is another popular theme and we weren’t disappointed as we were treated to some excellent work over the weekend and managed to fit everyone in to boot. One thing a few people mentioned was that they’d like a little time put aside here and there to sit and talk to friends/colleagues, something that we will take on board and factor in for future weekends.
WORKSHOPS For the workshops, Andy Farrer took his group to some beach locations where they were overwhelmed by the amount of people who took advantage of the weather to don trunks and bikinis and take their children for a day by the sea. Not to be put off, I’m sure they managed to enjoy the day regardless, we photographers are nothing if not resourceful. Charlie Waite took his group to Dartmoor centering around Princetown, the home of the prison, and taking in various aspects of the diverse scenery. Moorland, reservoirs, tors and some of the wonderful moss-covered trees and forests that Dartmoor is known for and the feedback I got was that he was every bit as good as the reputation that precedes him, not that I’m surprised, Charlie is always excellent value. Our last but not least workshop leader was Stewart Wall who took his group in an entirely different direction (spiritually) and I was invited along, not to take part but just to observe and this was a far more cerebral experience than normal. Taking a route around Plymouth he focused on weaving visual stories with compelling narratives, intending them to be showcased in photobooks or zines and the group were broken into subgroups and tasked with two or three scenarios to photograph while interchanging ideas. The results are to be sent to Stewart who will curate them into a book and send a copy to each participant. They have also been encouraged to write a haiku to accompany each of their images, (a three-line verse containing five syllables in line one, seven in line two and five in line three) that would convey the essence and emotion of the image.
November 2023 No. 19
TALK AND PRESENTATIONS
some wonderful abstract work and reflections https://www.astridmcgechan.com.
Andy gave us a talk on using long lenses for land/seascape photography demonstrating the virtues of the foreshortening effect a long lens gives. He is also a professional printer and gave us some tips on printing techniques, notably ‘on screen’ colour balance and spaces such as Adobe rgb and CMYK which for those of us who print were very informative. Charlie’s presentation ‘The making of a landscape photograph’ was an adjunct to his workshops and gave us all an insight into his thought process and care in previsualising scenes. No image he takes is just ‘snapped’ but carefully planned with the lighting and all the other elements in harmony and it showed in some of his images he shared with us. On Sunday, Stewart gave us a presentation on his work with ‘Ginko: Beyond Street Photography’. The tradition of ginko is an important part of the haiku-writing process. Ginko refers to the nature walks that Japanese poets would take, whilst waiting for inspiration to strike. In his talk he explained the process by which he creates challenging and intensive learning experiences that will help elevate our photography to a new level. He shared with us professional methods of creating impactful images and seeing beyond the obvious. This again, was an extension of his workshop and he brought along several books that had been completed on past workshops for our perusal. For anyone interested in this concept have a look at Stewart’s website www.ginko.org.uk which will further elaborate on this very interesting process. I must also mention the Copthorne staff, who were really attentive to all our needs throughout the weekend, we had the odd hiccup here and there but nothing major and easily resolved in minutes and our Sunday evening meal was excellent, as were the buffets.
Media City Salford I’ve included their website details as they’re well worth a look and I reckon they’ll be perfect.
Media City Salford Quays More news on a third speaker as and when and the hotel is a Copthorne again right on the Quays. That’s all you’re getting for the moment, just enough to keep your appetites whetted
Spring 2024 weekend 5th - 8th April. We’re planning our next sortie in Manchester, specifically Salford Quays and with Media City, The Imperial War Museum and the Lowry Centre it’s a Visual Artists dream. We’ve provisionally booked Adrian Beasley who has a way with dark moody landscapes and architecture https://www.abeasley.org and Astrid McGechan who, at the moment is doing
Lowry Centre Salford
November 2023 No. 19 It was great to see you all again and Sally and I look forward to meeting up with you all next Spring. Mike kitchingman LRPS
DANCE CELEBRATION AND OTHER COMPOSITE PRINTS Dance Celebration was made about 2010. The aim was to create a theme-based composite print, for lack of a better term that would fill an A1 board with about thirty images. The prints would be cropped according to content and fitted together to make a whole. In reviewing contact sheets and proof prints there was plenty to choose from, but I valued being able to include a few that I had liked at the time but did not think would work as stand-alone enlargements. All my work was film-based monochrome.
ensure a standard width gap when fitting the inbetween ones. A few to fit down each side were then selected, printed and mounted to start setting the parameters and the centre filled, a bit like doing a jig-saw. I tried to create an interesting but random pattern and avoid including too many of the same dancer near to each other. I was very happy with the outcome but it was not entirely a new experience. In the nineties I had made a rather similar print about two feet by nearly three for an exhibition, see Tanfield Textures.
Tanfield Textures This featured work made over many years at our local heritage railway. The technique was much the same but the Tanfield print has no spaces between the images so at least from a little distance it looks like a single print, perhaps with the work montaged. Around the millennium I decided to make a different type of composite print using twelve of the of the twenty prints
Dance Celebration The darkroom prints were made on resin coated paper so they could be washed and dried quickly and mounted with spray mount. Prints for the top row were chosen and printed with a little extra to crop for an exact fit. The top corner ones were then mounted and I used a strip of card to
Although still committed to film and the darkroom, I had a computer and had added a photo-printer. Using a mask this could have been done in the darkroom printing each separately on the same sheet of paper. However, developing it and finding that you had made an error, say not dodging or burning correctly on one of the prints and having to start again did not appeal. The film-based fellowship prints comprised small rectangular prints, six inches on the short side with the long side verifying a little to secure the best crop. I opened a folder and the twelve most square were scanned in and cropped square. Just a few were given a slight squeeze using ‘free transform’. A new photoshop page was opened and guidelines set up for the twelve images. They were then imported using a different layer for each one and sized to fit the square using free transform. Finally, the layers were reshuffled to achieve the most pleasing layout before printing.
November 2023 No. 19 (Photographic Alliance of Great Britain) started their ‘Masters of Print’ annual exhibitions. I had virtually stopped taking on new challenges but I could not resist the first one. I included Dance Celebration in my entry and enjoyed seeing it framed on the wall at the London pre- view.
RPS fellowship panel, Human Form I almost always make prints for my own pleasure and satisfaction but may then consider potential outlets. Human Form proved quite successful on the International Salon circuit, virtually always being accepted and achieving a gold medal in the contemporary ‘best the for Scottish monochrome’. However, I met a snag when it was accepted in the RPS Members Print Exhibition and on tour. I received a call to say two people were interested in buying a copy and seeking a price. This was before digital entry so I had sent the actual print. The printer I had was an Epson 1200. It had a separate black cartridge that gave a true black if not the level of subtlety now achievable. The problem was I had a copy bluetacked to the wall and it had faded to sepia so was not saleable. I made a medium format film copy and supplied a darkroom print! The reverse occurred with Dance Celebration. I had enjoyed it but there are limited outlets for an A1 print so I made a digital copy, and made an A3+ digital print. About eight years ago the PAGB
Appleby Experience I have been photographing since the later 1940s and still love film, but in my early nineties bought a mirrorless camera and more recently a decent phone-camera that I am particularly enjoying. After Dance Celebration I have made a few more multi-image composites using about thirty images drawn from different bodies of work and, including Tanfield Textures now have five. Although they are all based on what has become known as analogue work, all the print work is now done digitally. I have gained a lot of satisfaction from composites including a few other types that fall
November 2023 No. 19 between an old-fashioned triptych and one of Hockmey’s ‘Joiners’. Roy Elwood FRPS
A MESSAGE FROM OUR NEW CHAIR Taking over from a successful Chair is never going to be easy. However, my initial trepidation has been considerably eased by the knowledge that my committee is strong, able and committed to our purpose. I am very grateful to them all already. Scarily they are all better photographers than I am. The RPS, like many other member organisations, is facing a number of challenges at present and the Visual Art Group must inevitably be affected by some of these. AI, the digitisation of the LRPS procedure, the reduction in the amount of printed material sent abroad and many more: all these areas arouse strong views and feelings. We have just returned from a most enjoyable Residential weekend in Plymouth, where the 57 members who attended were vigorously discussing all the above. These things matter to us all. What I hope to be able to do on your behalf is to represent the Group’s views to RPS HQ – either at the Members’ Committee or direct, to share our own views with other SIGs and to move us all forward in our photographic aims. If you think you can help in any area, please do get in touch. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at one of the various activities we organise. Enjoy your photography! Mark Deutsch LRPS
PUBLICATIONS NEWS Please welcome Jacqui Demiurge, our new designer - I think you'll agree that she has done a splendid job of designing the Visual Art Magazine No. 163. The eclectic and colourful contents of the five articles are thanks to our Guest Editor, Linda Wevill FRPS.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS The following members make up your VAG committee for 2023/24: Chair Mark Deutsch LRPS Secretary & Newsletter Carol Paes ARPS Treasurer Barry Barker FRPS Membership Val Glenny Publications Coordinator Wendy Meagher LRPS Exhibitions Coordinator Tom Lee FRPS Exhibitions member Martyn Pearse Web Editor Michael Butterworth LRPS Circles Coordinator Gill Dishart ARPS Residential weekends Mike Kitchingman LRPS Committee Member Bob Bracher ARPS
There are also two sub-group organisers and one Visual Art Group representative for the Tyng Collection, held currently at the V&A Museum. They are: Visual Art North Mary Crowther ARPS Visual Art Southwest
We bid a fond farewell to our departing Chairman, John Cavana ARPS and warmly welcome Mark Deutsch LRPS.
Marija Lees LRPS
The 2024 Members' Exhibition Print exhibition images will be published in an upcoming VA Magazine - more news on this to come.
Robert Herringshaw ARPS
Wendy Meagher LRPS
Tyng Co-ordinator