As Retford and District Photographic Society moves into the third month of the new season, it’s a good time to reflect on the October meetings and the range of topics explored. Ashley Franklin visited to present The Wider World of Photography, sharing his perspective on photographers who have inspired and influenced him. Covering a vast subject, Ashley focused on several distinct genres in the first of two talks.
He began with an image of WW Winter’s studio in Derby, the world’s oldest still in operation, before moving on to the famous Cottingley Fairies photograph, which revealed the imaginative possibilities of early photography in the late 1850s – an era when people still believed ‘the camera never lied.’ The first true portrait, of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, showed the engineer standing casually before giant chains, symbolising his engineering prowess. Another highlight was an early composite image made up of 32 separate photographs, which in 1857 took six weeks to produce – a reminder of how far the medium has evolved.
Ashley also discussed Yousuf Karsh, the portrait photographer commissioned to create a statesmanlike image of Winston Churchill in contrast to the propaganda portraits of Hitler and Mussolini. Karsh famously removed Churchill’s cigar just before taking the shot, capturing the defiant expression that became one of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century. Photography’s power to influence public perception was another key theme. Many will remember the 1991 image of a pregnant Demi Moore, which popularised maternity photography, or the haunting photographs from African famines, the Vietnam War and the 9 / 11 attacks – all of which shifted global awareness and compassion.
The talk also explored war photography’s evolution. Later in the month, guests Phil and Dave from Bolsover Camera Club shared examples of their work in contrasting genres. Phil demonstrated his creative portraiture, in which each image tells a story built from multiple separately photographed elements, while Dave discussed his successful competitive career, which he has recently brought to an end to focus on selling his work at craft fairs.
The society’s second open competition produced an excellent standard of entries. Judge Stefan Nicholson praised the high quality of both nature and monochrome work. Across the categories, few images scored below 16, with each section producing a single winner and several second-place entries scoring 19 points. In the digital class, four images tied for second place. Both Lee Dalgliesh and Mike Vickers achieved first and second place in their respective categories, while it was encouraging to see several new members among the high scorers.
Retford and District Photographic Society meets at St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford, on Monday evenings at 7.30pm until Monday 8th December, when meetings pause for Christmas. For more information, visit http://www.retford-photographic.co.uk.