OPS Weekly Newsletter 8 December 2024
- Let David B know if you want to enter prints for our next exhibition at the Westgate library which starts 2 January 2025. Please check Dave’s email which he sent to all members. Many thanks to Dave and Les for pulling all this together.
- Sandra D urgently needs a bold striking image for our ‘ArtWeeks’ webpage to promote our exhibition in May. Image needs to be square format.
- Don McCullin will be at the Oxford Literary Festival in April 2025. You’re advised to book early.
- Last week’s meeting Tues 3 December: Intimate (Land)scape explained with Adrian Cubitt and members’ Show and Tell
Adrian took us on a search for the mythical and illusive beast that is the Intimate (Land)scape genre.
All this was in preparation for the Intimate Landscape competition run by Tring and District Camera Club. Some 14 camera clubs have enrolled in this competition which “celebrates the creativity and variety of images that the subject ‘Intimate Scapes’ inspires”
There will be two Judges – Maria Leekblade and Tony Oliver and it will take place on the evening of Thursday 27th February 2025. Entries must be received by 14th February latest. Please contact Adrian if you want to be involved.
Adrian took us through what ‘Intimate (Land)scape’ was – which, like most forms of visual art, is difficult to pin down. Peter Cox, who is behind the Intimate Landscape competition had some sage advice: ‘Don’t get hung up on definitions – you know if an image has an intimate feel… So be creative and enjoy the freedom…’
According to Anne McKinnell the term “intimate landscape” can be attributed to American photographer Eliot Porter who had the first exhibit of colour photography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NY) in 1979 – an exhibit titled Intimate Landscapes (thanks to Simon for locating Eliot Porter’s book which is free to download). I encourage you to view some of the photos from this exhibit to help you understand what intimate landscapes are.
One reason for pursuing the intimate landscape is that you’ll create images that are uniquely your own. Whereas everyone who pursues the grand vista of (add popular landscape location) inevitably ends up standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a line up of photographers – the small scene that happens nearby will change with every season, with every day, and never be the same.
The resulting photographs are more personal, and more emotional.
https://annemckinnell.com/2016/04/06/
So what images are intimate (land)space ones?
A small scene: This means perhaps…..
- It is a picture of a ‘scene’ – i.e. a space with a variety of objects
- Not an image of just one thing – where that thing dominates the image
- It could be a clump of things within their environment – or a group of objects within a small area of space
There is no one specific definition (as with most genres) and we do not want to be
more specific as this can stifle creativity.
They usually show a scene (scape) which:
- Has a Point of Focus
- Is simple
- Uses lines, form, textures, hues / colours
They seldom:
- Include the sky (except if fog / misty) – this is unlikely to feel ‘intimate’
They are never:
- A picture of a single thing (e.g. single flower or butterfly) as this is not a scape
- A wide-open landscape (this is not intimate)
So there you have it – something intimate, a scene which is part of a larger scene, it could be rural, it could be urban.
Many thanks to Adrian for clearly explaining what is a difficult concept to pin down.
In the second half of the evening we were treated to members’ images in a Show and Tell session. Members showing images were: Helen S, Dave B, Alan L, Pete W, Dave Mac, Les G, and John B. Many thanks to all. Apologies to anyone who showed their images who I have not included.
Next Tuesday’s meeting 10 December at 19.30: Projected Digital Images No. 2
Our judge with be Colin Mill
- Upcoming meetings for 2024
Tues 17 December at 19.30: Julian Elliot: Mongolia – from landscapes to eagle hunters
Julian will be ‘zooming-in’ al the way from Vietnam. His talk will take us on a journey across Mongolia from the famous Steppe landscape to the eagle hunters of the Altai region in western Mongolia.
We do not meet again until Tuesday 7 January when Pete and Phil Warrington will be showing their images.
- Programme Secretary vacancy
We have a full and varied programme for you this season thanks to the hard work and excellent choices by Les. Unfortunately, due to unexpected changes in Les’s work commitments he cannot continue in the role and we need someone to step forward to start the planning and booking of speakers for next season’s programme. Please do contact me or any other committee member if you are interested in taking on the role.
- Events photographic in and around Oxford
Bettina von Zwehl: The Flood
This exhibition will feature photographs by London-based artist, Bettina von Zwehl (b. 1971). Von Zwehl’s aim is to rekindle wonder and curiosity as critical tools for exploring new ideas and practices.
https://www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/ashmolean-now-bettina-von-zwehl
Bettina von Zwehl
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, to 11 May
Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum has its roots in the 17th century when it started as a “cabinet of curiosities”, a collection of wonders of all kinds, animal, vegetable and human. Von Zwehl has immersed herself in the surviving treasures from that primal museum and created a photographic homage to it.
Don McCullin talks to Richard Ovenden
The Bodley Lecture and Award of the Bodley Medal: Life and Work
Thursday, 3 April 2025
6:00pm-7.00pm Sheldonian Theatre
£8 – £20
- General photographic interest
The 2024 Nature Conservancy Oceania photo contest winners – in pictures
Here are some of the standout images from the 2024 Nature Conservancy Oceania photo contest.
Opinion: Photographers, it’s time to boycott Adobe
This article is for all the photographers who are still signed up to Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, who are still paying
https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/opinion-photographers-its-time-to-boycott-adobe/
Magic skies: See the Northern Lights Photographer of the Year winning photos
Capture the Atlas has announced the winners of its 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year awards in the seventh edition of its annual photo contest.
https://www.dpreview.com/articles/3926501089/northern-lights-photographer-of-the-year-awards
DPReview Annual Awards: The best photography gear of 2024
Despite all the headwinds being faced by the camera industry (or perhaps because of them), 2024 has been an excellent year for photographers, in many regards.
