Images as selected for the book of personal images by members. Published 2005. The book is dedicated to the memory of Emma-Jane Slade and also to former (now departed) members Bill Avis and Molly Stoneman. Title selected "Drawn by Light" was selected from many submissions and was suggested by Dave S Allen, Hon,FZPS. Selected because of its many appropriate interpretations as to meaning. The physical copies of this book are to be distributed at the Annual Meet, 2005, at Harlect or by post to those unable to attend. The Preface, by William Bishop, Editor of "Inscape" magazine will be posted on the Members-only Forum as a TIL (Technical Information Leaflet) together with the special dedication to the late Emma-Jane Slade, daughter of member Roger Slade and his wife, Kay - with additional tributes to former (now departed) members Bill Avis and Molly Stoneman.
Here's the Introduction by William Bishop, Editor of "Inscape"
"ENTHUSIASM"
The deep excitement for many photographers lies in the darkroom experience when negatives are transformed into prints which provoke both surprise and delight. Later on when our techniques improve the sense of achievement deepens but our pleasure is not any greater than our first darkroom experience. Print quality will be of a higher standard when our technical abilities improve, but the vital ingredient is enthusiasm - achievement lies in this, combined with the means to embody it and the technical skills to express it. This is what is so satisfying about photography. For photography is a medium: an intermediary through which we engage with the world.
The engagement with the world is real, but with the camera we are able to transfer what we see, through the medium of photography, to a print (or other visual form such as a transparency). We are not only able to make what we see permanent but we are also able to preserve or freeze the way we see the scene. It is this way of seeing which is precious because it is personal to us. The view as seen in our print is not any old view but our view - a view seen by us in our particular way, not to say a peculiar way.
Sometimes there are exhilarating moments of vision, and to be able to capture these and express them is deeply gratifying. I can see a number of photographs in this collection where this is the case - moments of awe within the landscape with the effects of light, weather and form, such as in number 47. Such an image is a good example that shows the necessity of well developed technical skills because the expression in this print demands it and without this it just would not work. It would be just a flat scene.
The way the eye embraces the material world in some of these pictures also reveals warmth and indeed, love for what is seen, as for example in number 44, where a harmonious resonance with nature is conveyed. And then a picture like number one leaves the viewer speechless, allowing the content of the image to speak for itself by purely visual means.
I ask myself why landscape features so dominantly here. It is true that it is a subject with a long tradition which comes from painting and enters into photography from its earliest days, but there must be more to it than that. Surely it is that there is a tendency on the part of the photographer to seek in the landscape a wholesomeness and integrity, the health-giving effects of beauty even, which is often hard to find elsewhere. If so, then the photograph becomes a gesture towards wholeness - the seeking for a resonance with a greater whole with which to relate. Landscape is 'other', and yet it can touch something deep within us. The photograph can become the expressive point of contact where the outer world and our inner vision meet. The microcosm of our self then relates to the macrocosm - we have a moment of recognition: an inner identification with the outerscape.
Taken as a body, this selection of photographs with its variety of ways of seeing, is in itself an expression of, and a tribute to, the community which has come together out of a common interest and common enthusiasm. The sum is greater than the parts, and the whole represents a lot of work - not 'useless toil' but work well done to high standards and to a meaningful end - a permanent representative exhibition. This book is an achievement to crown the years of dedication which have led up to it and for which it is an expression.
William Bishop - Editor, "Inscape"