OPS Weekly Newsletter 4 January 2026
- Our winter exhibition is now ready to be viewed, and admired, at the Westgate Library. Please do visit and encourage others to visit and enjoy the range of images on show.
- URGENT: The CACC committee has moved the Championship Day forward to Sunday 15 February to give a longer time between it and Rosebowl Day which remains in April. As a result, you have much less time to organise and make your entries to Championship Day. Everything needs to be planned and entered during January as the closing date is Sunday 1 February. Entries are open for:
- Chilterns Hundred. Individual entry collated by Club. Clubs must not impose any selection on the member’s choice.
- Championship – Prints. Club entry
- Championship – Projected. Club entry
Please contact Pete or Phil Warrington if you wish to enter the competition. See here for full details https://thecacc.org.uk/events/championship-day/
- Last meeting held on Tues 16 December: Alec Pain on Creating Magic and Poetry – the world through plastic camera, experiments and mistake
Alec – not really his name, his real name is Alistair Pace – started his talk by lying on the Bandhall floor. He was demonstrating how he takes unconventional panoramic shots on this iPhone. He lays down, holds the phone behind his head then rolls forward like doing a sit up. The results he gets are a 180 degree in portrait mode shot with the sky on top side of the image and also on the bottom side. This can look a little weird, especially if the sky is not blocked by tall objects. He showed some astonishing shots of tall buildings which were close together, trees in a wood and an amazing shot of an empty tube carriage using this method. He called this method a ‘vertical-rama’ than the usual panorama.
Alistair is extremely creative in his approach to photography. He showed a series of double exposure shots taken inside the Westgate Centre. He had first shot a full roll of film of neon signs. He did this as the area of the film which did not have the neon sign in it would be underexposed. He then rewound the film and started shooting TV screens. The results were very good but also sometimes hit-and-miss. He called it an exercise in serendipity.
He uses a Holga 120n and other versions of the Holga camera. They are prone to light leaks, sharp(ish) in the centre, blurry at the edges, but produce very attractive results and works very well in fog. Not content with anything conventional be uses a ‘splitzer’ – a lens cap with half or a quarter of the cap open. He takes a shot then another and another. He builds the image up by taking multiple exposure. You can see some of the results here.
In the second half he showed an amazing set of images which were a series of multiple exposure self-portraits across one image. He had multiple versions of this method, and all were remarkably creative. He also had portraits using a method to expose both sides of the negative – see here plus here and here.
His creativity appears to be boundless. He expanded his multiple exposure portraits to Da Vinci levels by recreating The Last Supper which can be seen here. In 2020 he was crowned Holga Week Champion with an image titled “Getting dressed for Holga Week (a nine exposure Holgarama)” which can be seen here.
Alistair brought with him a completely different approach to photography which was playful, inventive, creative, experimental, poetic and one that was not shackled by convention. He ended his talk with the message: “Experiment, embrace mistakes, always strive to learn new things. Find magic and poetry in the everyday.”
Wise words indeed.
- Next meeting Tues 6 January: The Eccentrics with Danny Jackson aka @Barksey
Danny is a street and documentary photographer from Canvey Island in Essex, driven by a lifelong interest in people and the small details that reveal character.
In 2019 he began The Eccentrics, photographing individuals who live life differently, captured in places where they feel most themselves. His projects, including Eccentric Essex and This is Essex, explore quirky British personalities with humour and empathy.
Danny also co-founded the Street Badass photography group and has exhibited in London and Rome.
- Upcoming meetings/events
- 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/
Dylan Brennan THE BIG SHOT with Greg Brennan
Blackwell’s, Broad Street Oxford
Wednesday, May 27 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm GMT+1
Dylan Brennan will discuss his new photographic book, The Big Shot with Britain’s most celebrated press photographer, Greg Brennan.
The Big Shot: Photographs by Greg Brennan showcases the work of one of Britain’s longest standing and most celebrated press photographers, offering an intimate look at three decades of celebrity, entertainment and major events.
From Hollywood and music legends to sporting greats, fashion visionaries and members of the British royal family, Greg Brennan has spent a lifetime chasing every opportunity to provide the public with rare behind-the-scenes insights, capturing encounters with the likes of Jack Nicholson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lady Gaga, Kate Moss and Queen Elizabeth II.
- General photographic interest
You Only Need One Photobook and This Is It
By Dr Grant Scott
This will not take long for you to read or for me to write. The book is by Joel Meyerowitz and its title is Where I Find Myself. However, let me go into a little more detail than that. For many years my ‘go-to’ all encompassing book of photographic inspiration, education and aspiration was Irving Penn’s Passage. Published in 1991 I bought it when it came out and it has remained firmly on my shelf as other photo books have come and gone.
https://unitednationsofphotography.com/2026/01/01/you-only-need-one-photobook-and-this-is-it/
‘There is a crack in everything’: capturing the dark of winter – in pictures
How do you photograph darkness? A question Sarah Lee considers with her work as the nights draw in: ‘I’ve always been drawn to photographing the darkness as the winter months draw in after the clocks go back and we head towards the solstice. I wondered why that was given that the world itself seems so dark at the moment. I realised this year that it is not the darkness I’m photographing, but, rather, the light. Always the light.’
Year in wildlife – in pictures
We look back over the year’s wildlife photographs, and hand out some much-deserved gongs to brilliant and beautiful creatures around the world
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2025/dec/26/year-in-wildlife-in-pictures
Unicef photo of the year awards 2025
First prize was won by Elise Blanchard, who documented the lives of girls and young women in Afghanistan. Second prize was won by Natalya Saprunova, who captured the how children in Mongolia are affected by air pollution. Third prize was awarded to Sourav Das, who documented childhood in Jharia, home to one of India’s largest coal mines. Honourable mentions went to seven other photo series from Afghanistan, Gaza, South Africa, Ukraine and the UK
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2025/dec/19/unicef-photo-of-the-year-awards-2025
Best photography competitions to enter in 2026
One of the best ways to improve your photography is to challenge it by entering a photography competition. Luckily, there are dozens out there to choose from, no matter your genre, style or level.
https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/articles/best-photography-competitions-to-enter/