OPS Weekly Newsletter 30 November 2025
- Our second digital image competition of the season will be on 9 December, so please upload up to three images at PhotoContestPro
- Last week’s meeting Tues 25 November: Take a Moment with Eddie Keogh plus Canon Partner Event
There was quite a good turnout for the talk and the Canon and London Camera Exchange event. Not only did it attract a lot of members but there were 18 guests as well.
Eddie has worked as the official photographer for the England football team for eight years and has built a very close working relationship with all the players and the staff. He is clearly a very friendly and engaging person, as witnessed by the amount of effort he put into talking to just about everyone who came to the Band Hall.
The first image he showed was of himself with his camera at Wembley Stadium, pitch-side, in the press photographers’ area at the 1982 FA Cup Final. He was a photography student and at half time he had blagged his way to the press area to take some shots. It was a nil-nil draw, and he tried a second time to blag his way pitch side for the re-play but his luck had run out. Still, it stood him in good stead for a career in press photography which he has been earning a living for more than forty years.
For each tournament the England team takes part in he produces a book for the players and staff. He tries to get as many ‘natural’ shots as possible to show the behind-the-scenes reality of the tournament. He will of course have lots of the action shots of the games and the training but he also wants to convey what happens ‘off-camera’ and he showed us some examples – comparing his taunt stomach with Jude Bellingham’s six pack.
He showed some excellent shots and has developed a low angled more dramatic point of view that generally gives a much cleaner background, especially when there are lots of distractions around.
The book is one thing, but life as an official photographer is all about speed, and nothing but speed in the world of social media. Getting the shot, and getting the shot immediately out there, is not for the ‘considered’ photographer.
It is relentless. And, shock horror, he shoots in jpeg not raw. Speed is of the essence.
It is a case of: get the shots, quickly scan the screen at the back of the camera, make a quick selection of the best ones and send them off to the editor. The editor chooses the ones to go, maybe the editor will do the lightest tweak and crop. The chosen shots are approved and will be immediately put on Getty Images for the news media, and the players can use them for their social media. The players have their own individual social media teams.
He then showed the players in action at the Euro’s tournament – the semi-final and the final. He is always situated at the opposition’s defensive area, just in case England score. He had a great shot of Jude Bellingham with his last-minute overhead kick to make the semi-final game go into extra time. After extra time the game was still a draw and he showed us the joy of the players when they won the penalty shoot-out.
He then showed the shot he got of Cole Palmer scoring the equaliser in the final. Then he showed the reel of all the shots he took of Cole before shooting and celebrating the goal. Maybe twenty to thirty shots, in jerky slow-motion. Out of all those shots he had taken he immediately needed to go through them, choose the best ones and send them off in a matter of seconds to hit the deadline needed for a fast action news cycle.
In the second half of his presentation, we left the manic action of covering the England football team to a more leisurely look at grassroots’ football. It was essentially a study of British life.
His first shot said it all. Sunday morning, player in his kit, socks rolled down, fag in mouth, hand down his shorts scratching his crotch, while turning up late for the game.
He showed us some wonderfully evocative photographs. A dog with a punctured ball in its jaws, dressing room shots, seagulls perched on a goal’s crossbar, a muddy football field taken low down reflected in a puddle, foggy winter morning football game, and to finish off, a shot of very determined goalie about to take a goal kick whose stomach gave away the identity of who ate all the pies.
A superb evening full of fun and enjoyment of what photography is capable of.
- Next meeting Tues 2 December: Photographing Pilgrimage: The Maha Kumbh Mela and Varanasi + members’ showcase of the ‘movement’ theme
We are happy to welcome one of our own long-term members, Bharat Patel, to share his photographic journey with us.
Bharat Patel is a documentary photographer based in Oxford, originally from India, and has been a member of OPS for over 10 years. His work focuses on social issues and marginalized communities and has regularly had his work selected for exhibitions in and around Oxford.
In this talk, Bharat shares his experiences photographing two major pilgrimage sites in India: Varanasi and the Maha Kumbh Mela—a massive gathering held once every 144 years at the meeting point of three sacred rivers. In 2024, the event drew around 400 million people, and Bharat spent five days capturing the scenes.
Through his images, Bharat explores the rituals and daily life of pilgrims, offering a powerful look at faith and tradition in India.
After tea we will Showcase everyone’s photos from this term’s MOVEMENT theme – and a favourite will be chosen.
- Upcoming meetings/events in November
- 9 Dec: Digital Image competition No. 2. Our judge will be Peter Prosser
- 16 Dec: Alec Pain on Creating Magic and Poetry – the world through plastic camera, experiments and mistake
You can see the programme up to the end of the year and beyond here and download it: https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/programme-download/
- Photographic events in and around Oxford
Jon Dunn – Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum, Winter Lecture Series
Natural history writer and photographer Jon Dunn addresses the OBGA Winter Lecture Series.
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
7.00-8.30 Thursday 19 February
https://www.obga.ox.ac.uk/event/jon-dunn-winter-lecture-series
- General photographic interest
‘We had to swim to safety. I didn’t think we would make it out alive’: the people fleeing climate breakdown – in pictures
Photographers Mathias Braschler and Monika Fischer capture the families, farmers and fishers who have been forced to leave their homes by extreme weather – and the landscapes they left behind. Introduction by Dina Nayeri
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/29/people-fleeing-climate-breakdown-in-pictures
Women Photographers 1900 to 1975: A Legacy of Light – in pictures
The new National Gallery of Victoria exhibition honours the wide-ranging photographic practices of more than 80 artists working between 1900 and 1975. Women Photographers 1900–1975: A Legacy of Light is open now until May 2026
Thrill ride: the best of Africa Foto Fair 2025 – in pictures
In 2010, the photographer Aida Muluneh created the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia’s capital to showcase talents from Africa and beyond. Since the pandemic, the event has boomed online to include work without borders