Image © Steve Jones

This month the group had to bring just one photograph – the idea being to give more time to really absorb the image and give fuller commentary. Everyone found this a particularly rewarding and absorbing meeting which gave space for in-depth, honest and perceptive feedback for the presenters.

Edey opened the evening with a monochrome image of a reflected reed in a pond. People remarked that this had a real feeling of calm and balance. The next image from Robin was of a jagged double yellow on the corner of a street near a school. Comments highlighted the textures and complementary colours in the picture. Ingrid’s image was of a Swiss music box which had belonged to her mother and which was full of old photographs. This was thought to be touching, melancholic and beautifully composed. Janet showed an image of a pop up Christmas card she had made of the Oxford Street lights. Everyone remarked that the framing made it look like a stage set come to life. The skill involved in producing this card was also remarked on.

Jan showed a composite image of news footage from the internet of Homs in Syria depicting the carnage caused by bombing in the civil war. These harrowing images led to discussion of copyright issues surrounding images from the internet. Jim’s image was of burial caves in Indonesia which had been carved from the rock and which were surrounded by life size models of the deceased. People found this fascinating but unsettling, particularly as many of the models appeared to reach out to the living. Hady’s image of masked actors in 5th Avenue New York pushing a torso on a plinth had a very different mood. This was a surreal and intriguing example of street photography taken on the fly. Eve’s image of a child’s legs provoked a great deal of discussion around the age of the child or even if it was a child. The child was wearing odd socks which symbolised her being on the threshold of discovery. Everyone agreed that it made an arresting image.

Tony showed a raw self-portrait in a bevelled mirror. The bevel hinted at the multi-faceted nature of a human being. People found this to be an emotionally true picture. Anna’s image of a woman eating ice cream, her face obscured by a large hat was intriguing. The composition was full of mystery and left viewers wondering about the woman and her identity. Austin’s picture of his grandson’s throwing stones into the sea on a family outing, provoked a great deal of debate about the ethics of taking and showing pictures of children. Alec’s image of the beach at Portobello which happened to show two people also provoked discussion about when it was appropriate to take pictures of people going about their business. Rashida’s picture of a sex shop display in Montreal with a customer outside was amusing and well composed. It was felt that context was important here and it did not raise the same issues.

Steve’s picture of a rickshaw driver in Calcutta in the rain was deeply evocative and everyone said they could almost feel the rain and humidity. Heloise’s image of legs apparently sticking out from the sand on a beautiful beach provoked a debate on how it been constructed. This unsettling spoke of both dislocation and ignoring the climate emergency. Chris ended the evening with a calming minimalistic image of the sea and the beach.
Edith Templeton

Edith Templeton

Robin Barr

Ingrid Newton

Janet Nabney

Jim Paterson

Alec Wylie

Steve Jones