John Bradshaw FRPS
A MISCELLANY OF MONO
Monochrome work has always been my favourite and perhaps 90% of my images are in that format. I have recently been searching through my extensive archive of digital images, and those on film from earlier times.
Nigel Chapman
SEASONS
The images presented were taken at various botanical gardens and woodland locations around the south of England throughout the seasons .
The textures, colours and designs so beautifully seen in botanical subjects have always appealed and hours spent walking through our many public gardens is both relaxing and absorbing.
For those interested I only carry a small but good quality compact camera, lightweight, especially useful at my age, very versatile and unobtrusive.
Pete Bamforth ARPS
HALIFAX AND SALTAIRE
The areas around Halifax and Saltaire have deep industrial roots but they are now in the process of expanding beyond their manufacturing past. Those roots can be seen everywhere in the gigantic factory complexes that produced not only for Britain but for the world. The measure of the riches produced by the North’s workers is evident not only in the scale of the industrial plants but also in the grandeur of civic and commercial buildings. But the heavy industries in textiles and carpets gradually disappeared and these communities had to find other ways of being viable. One of these ways was found in tourism.
Contre-jour Cobbles
Cobbles have been a paving medium since pre-Roman times and their use continued well into the Victorian era. For me, they are especially photogenic in contre-jour where, polished by a century of use, they reflect the light so effectively. The starkness of the light brings out fascinating patterns.
SALTAIRE
Sir Titus Salt commissioned the Salt's Mill textile mill and constructed one of Britain’s first model villages to house its workers. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Inside the factory it is no longer spinning bobbins and clattering looms. All of that ceased in the 80’s. Now there are three art galleries , shops, diners and cafes (with great tea cakes). Much of the gallery space is occupied by works by the Bradford-born David Hockney.
It was the day of the town’s fair and although I’m not, normally, a “people photographer” I found the folk friendly and open to having their pictures taken.
Bill McKnight
A VIEW FROM THE EDGE
Landscape is my main photographic interest, preferably in the mountains or by the sea. Most of my images were taken in the West of Scotland, the Hebrides, the North of England and the Dingle Peninsular in Ireland.
As my age, and my knees restrict my movements I often find myself walking on the side of a river, a lake, or along the shore. Water is always changing sometimes calm giving rise to lovely reflections, sometimes raging bringing big waves and rushing waterfalls. It is these moods and changes that I try to capture.
A sense of movement also adds to the mood of the image so when necessary I use the appropriate shutter speed.
It was Andre Kertez who said that “I do what I feel, that's all, I am an ordinary photographer working for his own pleasure. That's all I've ever done.”
Iain McGowan FRPS
SHELTER
The photographs displayed here are a selection from a panel of images covered by the one word title of 'shelter'.
The concise Oxford dictionary describes 'shelter' as a thing serving as shield or barrier against attack, danger, heat, wind etc; screen or cabin to keep off wind and rain; place of safety or immunity; shielded condition.
In other words 'shelter' can be a very loose term when referring to photographs and what those photographs are intending to say. This selection of images includes structures with the intention of protecting its occupants in urban, scenic or rural locations. There are hints of historical events, of possible happenings long forgotten, perhaps degrees of comfort or just a sense of relief on arrival at any given location.
Leigh Preston FRPS
EDINBURGH FESTIVAL
Costumes and characterisation are the draw for a photographer. I'm a regular visitor and I thoroughly enjoy a few days wandering up and down the High Street or The Mound finding 'fun' pictures, trying to get good backgrounds without resorting to adding anything later. It's more of a challenge to shoot 'straight', getting everything right 'in camera'.
Robert Heather
SLATE QUARRIES - NORTH WALES
Janey Devine FRPS
SURFACE TENSION
Water covers 71% of the earth’s surface, but accounts for only 0.02% of its mass.
96.5% of the earths water is held in oceans. It shapes our continents and dictates our climate. It evaporates and creates clouds, then condenses to provide rain and snow which form rivers and lakes, glaciers and groundwater storage.
But under 0.01% of our water ends up in rivers and freshwater lakes. Fresh water - essential for life - is extremely precious.
As civilisations developed across the world, access to water was necessary. Villages and towns grew up along riverbanks and shorelines.
Populations increased. Agriculture and farming swallowed up water. Industry greedily followed. Mighty rivers were dammed to produce electricity and to irrigate crops, leaving countries downstream dry and desperate. Wars broke out.
And all around us factories pump chemical rich, polluted effluent into our rivers, poisoning and killing life. Run off from agriculture add fertilisers and insecticides to the toxic mix.
Forests and trees transpire water back into the atmosphere, allowing clouds and rain to fall inland. But deforestation continues unchecked. Each year land roughly the size of England is turned into desert.
Third world countries use the river to clean up their natural waste. But plastic doesn’t disappear. Plastic bags and bottles now clog our water highways.
And yet, we who are privileged to live in our centrally heated houses with running water, electricity and wifi, we who jump in our cars and fly to all corners of the world, take water for granted. Like the oxygen we breathe.
Big mistake.