Talks and lectures
I'm a N&EMPF and PAGB lecturer. I hope soon to be included on the MCPF list, since I'm now based in Bromyard a lot of the time. I'm available to give talks and lectures to clubs and societies around the Midlands. Lectures will include a mixture of mounted prints, digital images and audio visual presentations. I'm also available to give talks to other groups - see the "talks to non-photographers" section.
I'm in the current N&EMPF and PAGB Directory and Handbook. Equivalent lecture titles are:
Journey to LRPS and Beyond: "To L and Back"
Another Way of Looking: "Aspects of Contemporary Photography"
Project work in photography: "Phone Boxes and Other Projects"
You Are Here - a new lecture on my approach to contemporary photography
I charge standard NEMPF rates (30p per mile plus petrol). For lectures to camera clubs I will need a laptop with speakers and Microsoft Powerpoint; a projector; and a print stand (ideally to take 10 A3 prints).
I'm in the current N&EMPF and PAGB Directory and Handbook. Equivalent lecture titles are:
Journey to LRPS and Beyond: "To L and Back"
Another Way of Looking: "Aspects of Contemporary Photography"
Project work in photography: "Phone Boxes and Other Projects"
You Are Here - a new lecture on my approach to contemporary photography
I charge standard NEMPF rates (30p per mile plus petrol). For lectures to camera clubs I will need a laptop with speakers and Microsoft Powerpoint; a projector; and a print stand (ideally to take 10 A3 prints).
I’ve been interested in photography since my dad gave me a box Brownie when I was a kid. For a long time I had a Pentax ME Super (I never got into film, sorry…). I joined Chesterfield Photographic Society in 2006 I joined Clay Cross Photographic Society in 2007. I’ve had a website and Flickr site since 2007. I gained an AS level in photography at Derby University in 2007-8. I joined the Royal Photographic Society in 2008 and gained my Licentiateship in February 2009.
If I have a style, it would be street/ documentary/ realist, I suppose. I don’t do natural history, and I don’t photoshop my images to death – what you see is more or less what you get. My influences include Eugene Atget, William Eggleston and Stephen Shore. When I’m out with the camera I respond to the world around me. I call it “another way of looking”
If I have a style, it would be street/ documentary/ realist, I suppose. I don’t do natural history, and I don’t photoshop my images to death – what you see is more or less what you get. My influences include Eugene Atget, William Eggleston and Stephen Shore. When I’m out with the camera I respond to the world around me. I call it “another way of looking”
Since late March 2020 I've had an ongoing project to document life around us during lockdown. The first part - Not Going Out - looks at life between 1 April 2020 and 15 June 2020.
This lecture looks at my contemporary style. Two quotes are relevant: "What you point your camera at is, of course, crucial, but it is only the starting point on what could be a journey of self discovery, rather than an exercise in making decorative clichés" - Paul Hill; "I am at war with the obvious" - William Eggleston.
Somebody said to me recently that there was photography of things, and photography about things. I prefer the latter.
Somebody said to me recently that there was photography of things, and photography about things. I prefer the latter.
What is contemporary photography? Well, according to the RPS contemporary group: "If you think that photography is a medium for communication and self-expression; is more expressive when images are grouped so that they interact with one another; and should be free from constraints or rules; you will find the Contemporary Group stimulating and exciting"
Now you know as much as I do. Contemporary photography is as much about what it isn't as what it is: it's about the story behind the image; how images together mean more than images on their own; It isn't about making images that will win competitions, or that look pretty, or "pleasing", or that people want to hang on their walls. No, I'm none the wiser either.
... but this talk will, through audio visual presentations, digital images, print sets and one or two other rather unusual presentations, help you to see what I mean. Or not, probably.
Now you know as much as I do. Contemporary photography is as much about what it isn't as what it is: it's about the story behind the image; how images together mean more than images on their own; It isn't about making images that will win competitions, or that look pretty, or "pleasing", or that people want to hang on their walls. No, I'm none the wiser either.
... but this talk will, through audio visual presentations, digital images, print sets and one or two other rather unusual presentations, help you to see what I mean. Or not, probably.
Most of my photography is centred around projects. I find it concentrates my mind, and makes me think more creatively about what I'm feeling in a given situation and how I'm going to express that feeling. I have a number of projects on the go at any time. Examples are Photos you can't get into, Tinsley viaduct, Chesterfield Wagon Works, Pleasley Hill and, most recently phone boxes. This talk focuses on the role of projects in my work, and illustrates how projects can be used to give a narrative, in a different way from the usual club single image.
This image is of a K6 red telephone box in the village of Riber, near Matlock, Derbyshire.
This image is of a K6 red telephone box in the village of Riber, near Matlock, Derbyshire.
This is about my journey to Licentiate of the Royal Photographic Society and beyond. I first picked up a camera at around the age of nine. I achieved my LRPS in February 2008. It was a long journey, and it's continuing.
The talk runs from the earliest images I have, through the Pentax ME Super years, to the very first 1 megapixel camera I bought ten years ago. It relates my first excursion into the world of DSLRs. I talk about joining Chesterfield Photographic Society; how I came to do an AS level in photography at Derby University; and I how I prepared for, and succeeded at, my "L" assessment. Finally, I talk about the work I am continuing in preparation for my "A".
This image was part of my successful "L" panel.
The talk runs from the earliest images I have, through the Pentax ME Super years, to the very first 1 megapixel camera I bought ten years ago. It relates my first excursion into the world of DSLRs. I talk about joining Chesterfield Photographic Society; how I came to do an AS level in photography at Derby University; and I how I prepared for, and succeeded at, my "L" assessment. Finally, I talk about the work I am continuing in preparation for my "A".
This image was part of my successful "L" panel.
Although I normally give talks on photography to camera clubs, I am available to give talks to other groups who may invite speakers to their meetings. I can guarantee a light-hearted and entertaining evening. My talks are based around photography, but can be customized to suit. They may include history of photography, what camera to use and how to use it, basic computer image processing, aspects of contemporary photography, photography as art, and projects I've worked on. Contact me through the contacts page for a discussion.
This is a high dynamic range image of the nave at Southwell Minster.
This is a high dynamic range image of the nave at Southwell Minster.