OPS Weekly Newsletter 14 December 2025
- Last week’s meeting Tues 9 December: Digital Image competition No. 2.
And the results were:
| First Place | A Steely Gaze | Peter Warrington |
| Second Place | Race | Keith Worthington |
| Third Place | Calm on Kotor Bay | William Hall |
| H. Commended | Port Meadow Froze Over | Sandra Devaney |
| H. Commended | Red Kite Diving for Food | Dave Belcher |
| H. Commended | Settlers Eagle Landing | Dave McKay |
| Commended | Bailey on the Charge | Dave Belcher |
| Commended | Heat Wave Devon Beach | John Boteler |
| Commended | Under the Bridge | Ian Bray |
| Commended | Black Beauty | Ian Bray |
Congratulations to all who took part
- Next meeting Tues 16 December: Alec Pain on Creating Magic and Poetry – the world through plastic camera, experiments and mistake
Alec Pain (aka Alastair Place) is a UK-based experimental film photographer and regular contributor to Shoot It With Film. Working mainly with analogue film cameras, Alec explores the beauty of imperfection, the unpredictable nature of film and his everyday surroundings to transform small-town streets and subtle textures into poetic visual stories.
In this engaging and reflective presentation, Alec invites you into his world of creative risk-taking with film. Through a mix of images, anecdotes, and hard-earned lessons, he’ll show how light leaks, composition quirks, and camera “flaws” can unlock new ways of seeing. Whether you’re a seasoned analog shooter or digital devotee curious about alternative approaches, this talk will inspire you to slow down, embrace accidents and find magic where you least expect it.
Perfect for the curious, the experimental or for simply seeing the world a little differently. Alec will talk us through his adventures in film photography, be that with a plastic toy camera such as the Holga; shooting pinhole, 35mm or 120 film cameras.
- Upcoming meetings/events
- 6 Jan 26: The Eccentrics with Danny Jackson aka @Barksey
- 13 Jan 26: Hidden Romania – Old and Decaying Buildings with Willie Hall + Members Show & Tell
- 20 Jan 26: The Night Climbers of Oxford with Austin Bradley
- 27 Jan 26: Member Showcase – Double Feature with Pete Warrington & Habip Kocak
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
Camera Club: Spring Exhibition
Camera Club is part of The North Wall’s YouthLab programme, which supports young people aged 12-17 in developing their creative skills alongside professional artists. Every year a group of 6-8 aspiring photographers works with artist Elina Medley to create images using digital SLR cameras and then to curate an exhibition of photography.
Sat 28 March to Thur 2 April.
This exhibition takes place at Magdalen Road Studios
https://www.thenorthwall.com/whats-on/camera-club-exhibition-2026/
- General photographic interest
This overlooked surrealist photographer deserves greater acclaim
Rodney Smith’s photography was elegant, surreal and meticulously crafted. His often-overlooked work deserves greater acclaim, photographic historian and curator Anne Morin tells David Clark
Enter International Amateur Photographer of the Year 2025 and win over $35,000 / £26,000 in prizes
We are delighted to announce our annual APOY photography competition is back! Amateur Photographer of the Year 2025 is now open for entries. We invite amateur* photographers from all over the world to enter the competition. Young Amateur Photographer of the Year is also open and free to enter for photographers aged 21 and under.
Naked ambition: the groundbreaking photomontages of Zofia Kulik
In her complex works, the Polish artist manipulates images of male nudes to comment on masculine power-plays and female emancipation
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/dec/11/zofia-kulik-photography-photomontage-polish
Back to their roots: a brief history of trees – in pictures
Over 120 years ago, a monumental work recording more than 500 species of tree in Britain and Ireland was published. A new version focuses on the pioneering images it contained
‘The Red Road flats were spectacular – and terrifying’: striking photographs of Glasgow in flux
From Franz Ferdinand fusing a basement pub’s lights to high-rise flats just days before their demolition, a new show captures the changing city. Its photographers talk us through their shots