OPS Weekly Newsletter 23 February 2025
Message from Ivor’s nephew Mark:
As many of you will already know, Ivor Porter sadly passed away on the 9th February and his funeral will be at 4pm on Tuesday 4th March at North Oxford Crematorium, Tackley. Refreshments afterwards at Sturdys Castle nearby if you would like to attend.
Many thanks
Mark
- Last week’s meeting Tues 18 February: What Does Photography Mean to You? Grant Scott
Grant, who is now 60 years old, started from humble beginnings. His father was a bricklayer and his mother was a hairdresser. He was brought up a proud Londoner, and though not born within ear shot of Bow bells, Tooting Broadway station was just across the road. His introduction to photography was from his father who took family photos on films bought and developed next door to Tooting Broadway station.
In 1984 he was a student at St Martin’s School of Art and set his heart on becoming designer of album covers (for the uninitiated these are the sleeves that held long playing records – pre-Spotify). There was not much lecturing at St Martin’s and Grant spent part of his time at the Sunday Times and the News of the World on work experience. The Sunday Times colour supplement and album covers was his understanding of what photography was about and his exposure to this led him to studied graphic design.
He had heard that there was a magazine about to start and he went to the magazine’s office and was given scissors and glue and told to start designing. The magazine was Elle and after a time he ended up being its Art Director at 19 years old. He commissioned photographers and went on photo shoots and got to understand how photography works.
In 1990 he went on to work at Tatler magazine and had a say in who he commissioned, and this greatly deepened his knowledge and understanding of photography. After nine years he moved on to Getty Images as Creative Director.
Grant then decided he wanted to be a photographer and Terry O’Neil – he of the famous photo of Faye Dunaway lounging by a swimming pool after winning an Oscar – gave Grant a Hasselblad camera. So, with Hasselblad and on a Vespa, Grant rode down to Italy to build a portfolio of portraits of people he liked the look of. He got the images made into 20×16 black and white prints and toured the advertising agencies offering his services.
He published photo books, moved to Brighton and turned his home into a weekend exhibition gallery and in 2009 met a guy at a party (as you do) who ran Professional Photographer and asked Grant to run it in any way that he wishes. Grant transformed it into a highly successful money spinner. Two years later he had decided he wanted to start something from scratch and launched Hungry Eye magazine which was aimed at photographers and film makers. It ran for nine issues.
Then in 2012 he oversaw all photographic courses in the UK with a view of having a Government certification scheme to increase the quality of education. He then moved into education running the photography course at the University of Gloucester before finally running both the BA and MA photography courses at Brookes University in Oxford.
Grant has a weekly ‘podcast’ https://unitednationsofphotography.com/ and has also written a number of books on photography, including:
New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography
The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography
Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained
What Does Photography Mean To You?
The course he runs at Brookes University is designed to equip the students to enter the world of professional photography, or a profession that uses photography. It is career focussed. All his students end up working in jobs that are linked to photography.
He does not see photography as an end in itself, but as a means to an end. Students are asked what they are interested in, to explain what they want to achieve and how photography can be used to achieve this. To achieve what they want to achieve will mean they have to be visual problem solvers and visual story tellers.
He had a very different view to many camera club judges and said there are not rules to photography. His view is that photography is a visual language and what makes a good photographer is the ability to make a narrative from a body of work.
A very stimulating presentation which gave an alternative view to the world of photography.
- Next meeting Tues 25 February 19.30: Members’ memories of Ivor (first half) then images from Helen Stewart
Several members who knew Ivor well will be sharing their memories of him in the first half of the evening. In the second half Helen will give us a presentation of some of her images.
- Upcoming meetings
Tuesday 4 March: Panel competition
An evening where we breakaway from the tyranny of the single image. Our judge is Phil Joyce who will be seeing if our panels successfully explore and represent a theme, as explained or referred to in the title, so please think about how you title your panels. Also please read Phil’s explanation of what is and how to create a panel which was emailed out last week. Each panel should be between two to six images. Note: this number includes any image used as a background; plain colour backgrounds do not count as an image.
Tuesday 11 March: Janteloven – ‘No one is better than the other’ with Michele Peters
Janteloven is an unofficial Danish Law that has a key role in Danish culture and mentality. Everyone is accepted and equal. In the first half of the evening, Michele will talk about trips to Denmark, including the Faroe Islands. In the second half, she will re-visit her project on diversity, with pictures from across her travels.
18 March: Best Use of Light competition
Best Use of Light competition was set up to commemorate Peter Upton who, back in the day, was a leading member of the club and had a very distinctive style, powerful use of colour and light. Phil Joyce will be our judge and asking:
Is it a good photograph?
Does it use light appropriate to the subject?
Has the light been exploited to make the image standout?
25 March: Images of Zimanga plus ‘show and tell’ Dave Belcher and Dave Atkinson
The two Daves will show their images from a trip to Zimanga, South Africa. The second half will be a ‘show and tell’ by club members
1 April: Still – Mindful Photography with Paul Sanders
Former Picture Editor of The Times Paul Sanders left the toxic pressure of Fleet Street and stumbled upon a secret path: landscape photography. In the silent embrace of nature, he learned to breathe again, to find solace in the sunrise symphony and strength in the stoic gaze of mountains.
As he slowly learnt the value in solitude, and the magic that unfolds when he uses my camera as a tool for self-expression, he traded noise and materialism for something far more precious: peace.
“Still” is a bridge, built from my own journey of discovery, to guide you on yours. Here, you’ll find more than just photographs. You’ll find a portal to self-expression, a lens through which to rediscover the wonder of simply being. Let go of the clamour. Step into stillness, and paint your own story with light and wonder.
- 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
Photo Oxford Workshops
Join us for an exciting series of alternative photography workshops in March and April to explore the art of cyanotypes, anthotypes, phytograms, botanicograms, chemigrams, caffenol film development, pinhole cameras, photography as performance, and psychogeography.
https://www.photooxford.org/workshops
Bird Photographer of the Year Exhibition
An exhibition showcasing impactful and stunning images of birds taken from around the globe in 2024 is now open. Oxfordshire Museum, in Woodstock, is hosting the Bird Photographer of the Year exhibition until late February.
The Oxfordshire Museum
Fletcher’s House
Park Street
Woodstock
OX20 1SN
Saturday 11 Jan 2025, 10am-Sunday 23 Feb 2025, 5pm
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce8n8yr28jdo
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.
18 Oct 2024 – 11 May 2025
https://www.ashmolean.org/exhibition/ashmolean-now-bettina-von-zwehl
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
This is one of the biggest problems in photography and nobody talks about it
No it’s nothing to do with tricky exposure scenarios or the cost of the latest mirrorless cameras – for Deputy Editor Geoff Harris, it’s the evils of overshooting
‘My name is Geoff and I am an overshooter. It’s making my photography unmanageable, and I need something to restore me to sanity.’
I Am Martin Parr review – affectionate portrait of the British photographer
Director Lee Shulman follows Parr around some of his favourite haunts in a documentary that’s kinder than its subject sometimes is
‘Photography is therapy for me’: Martin Parr on humour, holidaying and life behind the lens
Resistance review – a captivating century of protest and photography
Turner Contemporary, Margate
Marches, strikes and other acts of defiance covering causes from anti-fascism to the Iraq war are captured in compelling detail in an exhibition conceived by Steve McQueen
Seals, sharks and spiny squat lobsters: Underwater Photographer of the Year 2025 – in pictures
The annual competition draws thousands of entries from across the world and brings together images from below the water’s surface that show the diversity and challenges of subaquatic life
‘Politically, it’s important. It’s important for humanity’: the long-lost civil rights images of Ernest Cole
A new Raoul Peck documentary showcases the recently rediscovered work of the photographer who drew parallels between apartheid South Africa and America’s battle for equality
