OPS Weekly Newsletter 15 March 2026
- Please start putting together your entries to our Digital Image Competition no 3 which takes place on 7 April.
- Last meeting held on Tues 10 March: The Perimeter with Quintin Lake documenting an 11,000km walk around the coast of Britain
Quintin started his talk with a little bit of his photographic history and a few images. One astounding one was of four mountains in Greenland lit by the midnight sun which was part of his winning entry of ‘Portfolio – Amazing Places’ category of the Travel Photographer of the Year 2010 – see here.
He was though here to talk about his remarkable story – with remarkable image – of photographing an 11,000km walk around the coast of Britain, undertaken in sections from April 2015 to September 2020. The distance he walk was the same as a flight from London to Manila the capital of the Philippines which is the equivalent a quarter of the globe.
He wore out seven pairs of hiking boots on a journey that took a total of 454 days, and he took 130,000 photos which were finally whittled down to approximately 1,300 for his book ‘The Perimeter’. His journey took a total of 454 days, with Mr Lake taking 130,000 pictures on the journey for his book The Perimeter. To manage the book’s design he had restricted himself to only taking square format photos. Even so it took him three years to edit the pictures and a further 14 months to produce the book.
He started his ‘clockwise’ journey round Britain’s coast from St Paul’s Cathedral in London and headed due east along the Kent coast and on to Sussex and an image of what he called the most photographed beach hut in the country in Rye Harbour. He also had a great shot of what looked like a windy end of world drinks party on the beach in Ferring, near Worthing.
He walked on through Hampshire and took a sinister and overbearing image of the bow of HMS Alliance, the last surviving WWII submarine in Gosport then onto Dorset and over to South Devon. For each county he had a mix of classic scene plus quirky and humorous images.
In Cornwall there was an intriguing image underneath the Stevenson fish packing plant in Newlyns Harbour just west of Penzance and onto Lands End to turn eastwards towards North Devon. While in Cornwall there was a shot of a dilapidated hut which was used by Robert Stephen Hawker (1803-75) for writing poetry and smoking opium – nothing ever changes.
On to Somerset and the repainting of the Burnham-on-Sea Low Lighthouse, a favourite lighthouse subject for many photographers, down the Avon to cross over into Wales via the Seven Bridge. We are now in Glamorgan and told that BATHING DANGEROUS on a sea wall in Porthcawl.
Dyfed next with beautiful landscape images and even the Pembroke old refinery at dusk had an air of beauty. As did the evening view of Venus above his tent at Penbwchdy while the horizon had a glow from Ireland across the sea.
On to Gwynedd and Clwyd ten back into England and the North-West. Statues of the Fab Four in Merseyside and Eric Morecombe in, well, Morecombe of course, not forgetting the Big Dipper in Blackpool. It’s now September and he is in Cumbria before he crosses into Scotland and leave ‘no trespassing’ signs behind and he is in the land of right to roam. His walk has so far taken 173 days. It will take him 196 days to travel round Scotland.
It is January it is cold and wet and there are marshes, barbed wire, there is no official public footpath network and paths are not shown on Ordnance Survey maps. He has to rely on hikers blogs and satellite maps. It is not going to be easy and he has yet to meet the midges.
The images though were worth it. Even when the weather was atrocious it threw up a great photo opportunity. A shot of Eilean Donan Castle was dark and dull and within a matter of seconds was transformed into a high contrast low light lit shot.
He discovered by chance St Ninian’s Cave in Wigtownshire , allegedly the place where the saint introduced Christianity to Scotland.
Walking was plagued by the weather and he showed a short video of taking his boots out and pouring out the water that had seeped in. And besides the midge attacks he was also attacked by ticks and came with Lymes disease which meant he had to recuperate for sometime before recommencing the journey.
Eventually he finished his long journey round Scotland and crossed over to ‘no-trespassing’ England on the east coast. It will take him 85 days, travelling nearly 2,000 kilometres to reach his starting point of St Paul’s Cathedral.
But then Covid happened and put his plans back for many months due to 119 days of lockdown.
Eventually he did get back to St Paul’s and then came another marathon of putting all this experience into a book. And what a superb book it is. If you didn’t manage to buy a copy on the night it is available at all good book shops.
A fascinating evening, a tale of adventure and amazing images.
- Next meeting Tues 17 March: Best Use of Light competition
Our judge will Peter Cox LRPS; CPAGB
- Upcoming meetings/events
- 24 March: Imagine with Rob Ferrands
- 31 March: The Cameraman’s Cut with Colin Clarke ARPS
- 7 April: Digital Image Competition no 3 – Judge: Mark Buckley-Sharp
- 14 April: Less is More with Linda Wride
You can see the programme here and download it:
https://oxfordphotosociety.co.uk/programme-download/
- Photographic events in and around Oxford
Spring Wonder: mindful photography walk & gentle writing reflections
The Lamb and Flag with the Writing Well
Mindful image gathering and guided writing response. All levels welcome. Free coffee and pastries.
10am–12.30pm/£30/Sat 18th Apr 26
The Lamb & Flag12 St Giles Oxford
FOTO FOLIO : A Studio Portrait Photography Workshop imagex
A Studio Portraiture workshop for advanced enthusiast – professional photographers.
1-5PM/£50 + booking fee/Sat 11th Apr 26
imagex, Unit C2, Bure Place, Pioneer Sq, Bicester, OX26 6FA
Oxford Photomarathon
12 topics, 12 Photos, 24 Hours
July 25-26 2026
The First Oxford Photomarathon will start at 10:00am on July 25, 2026
Save the date! You will have 24 hours to take 12 photos – the subjects will have a distinct Oxford theme, but you can be based anywhere in the world if you can’t make it here.
High Resolution Satellite Imagery for Monitoring Vulnerable Communities, in Changing Environments
Satellite imagery provides an amazing window into the diverse landforms, flora and fauna, and natural processes of the world around us, not only beautiful but useful too. Humanity has left a significant ‘footprint’ on our environment: from forest clearance, war impact, and pollution of the earth, sea, air, and even space. Dr Chris Lavers’ exhibition reflects on mankind’s impact on the earth, and on the most vulnerable elements of humanity, and emphasises the risks and suffering experienced daily by indigenous communities.
Pembroke College Art Gallery,
5, Brewer Street,
Oxford
OX1 1QN,
Fri 23 January – Fri 13 March 2026
https://www.pembrokejcrart.org/current-exhibitions
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/
- Exhibitions further a field
Best photography exhibitions to see in 2026
- Astronomy Photographer of the Year, National Maritime Museum
- Bird Photographer of the Year, touring
- RPS Landscape Group Members’ Outdoor Exhibition, touring
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year 61, Natural History Museum
- Boris Mikhailov: Ukrainian Diary, The Photographers’ Gallery
- Lee Miller, Tate Britain
- Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025, National Portrait Gallery
- Richard Avedon: Facing West, Gagosian Grosvenor Hill
- The Last Resort, Martin Parr Foundation
- Catherine Opie: To Be Seen, National Portrait Gallery
- Sony World Photography Awards 2026, Somerset House
- Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait, National Portrait Gallery
- Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends, National Portrait Gallery
- Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2026, National Portrait Gallery
More detail here:
https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/articles/best-photography-exhibitions-to-see/
- General photographic interest
‘Don’t be disheartened by mistakes’: 10 lessons my artist father taught me
David Gentleman’s brilliant career spans eight decades, from watercolour painting to tube station murals to drawing the Tottenham riots. Here his daughter, the Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman, dispenses his invaluable advice
‘Negatives are photographic truths’: the collector who fled Russia with a haul of second world war images
Ukrainian photographer Arthur Bondar has amassed a huge collection of pictures from often unknown photographers
South African photographer Zanele Muholi: ‘My mother worked for a white family. I remember the pools I wasn’t allowed to swim in’
Dale Berning Sawa
The artist has spent three decades changing the face of African art, and has just won the prestigious Hasselblad award. But they say the win isn’t about them – it’s for under-represented people still living with the echoes of Apartheid
You need to see this American street photography by the pioneering Gordon Parks
These stunning and poignant works form part of a new exhibition taking place in New York