Club Meeting, A Photographers Tale - Tuesday 19th February 2019.

   

On Tuesday 19th February, Morpeth Camera Club were pleased to welcome guest speaker Leo Palmer, FRPS, APAGB,
FPSA, GMPSA, EFIAP, with a talk entitled ‘A Photographers Tale’. Leo is a member of Hexham and District Photographic
Society and has been a serious photographer for more than forty years, during that time he has received many awards
including Honorary Life Membership of the Royal Photographic Society in 2015. Leo opened the evening by saying that
in the 70’s the main aim of most photographers was to hunt for the single image. He felt that there was much more to
do and started to produce sets.

So this evening, he said, we would be seeing a series of sets of images from a variety of places he had visited. In the
early days Greece fascinated Leo and every Easter he still visits Meteora, which he considers to be like a modern wonder
of the world. Here we saw images of monks and lofty monasteries. In Erakora, which is not on the tourist trail, but which
Leo considers to be a photographer’s paradise, we saw old widows and cats set in the myriad of back streets.

Next up were colourful images of the Taj Mahal, young sheep herders and doe eyed children, and in Nepal, a Sadhu holy
man and Bodnath stupor, with Leo explaining the tragic end of Nepal’s royal family. This was followed by photographs and
anecdotes of a pilgrimage to Bhutan’s’ Tiger’s Rest Monastery. In sharp contrast we were then transported to New Mexico’s
White Sands, known for its dramatic landscape of rare white gypsum sand dunes. His audio visual show included wonderful
photographs of sand patterns on white dunes, which turned to pastel hues as sunset approached. Lone skeletal trees under
big skies taken in perfect light, Leo captured the ethereal quality of this amazing landscape.

More wonderful landscapes followed of Black Rock Cottage in Glen Coe, Yosemite Falls, Shiprock in New Mexico, massive
sand dunes in Namibia and the lakes of Black Valley, Killarney. A project on mannequins followed, examples of which had
been inspired by famous models of the 60’s. As they did not include a definite background in shop windows Leo decided
to magically put them in context; a Venetian mannequin was placed in a Italian courtyard, and a Fenwick’s mannequin
was transported into a backdrop of Cuban Spanish colonial archways and similarly models were placed in museums, in
Central Park and a ghost town.

Then, tales of his trip on Route 66 when he came across an old garage with rusty cars and, as you do, he went to look at
mannequins of hookers in the ladies toilets. A mannequin of a glamorous waitress outside a diner with rusty trucks and
windmill, a wigwam motel built in the 30’s complete with 50’s and 60’s Cadillacs, and the iconic Blue Swallow Motel sign
Leo regards as images of decaying elegance and living history. An Av telling the story of the life of a family of Russian
Jewish immigrants in the 1900’s in The Shapiro House in New Hampshire included interior shots of belongings, old photos,
wallpaper and furnishings which transported the audience back in time. Historic Route 66 ran right through the town of
Moriarty, New Mexico where Leo discovered a compound of vast aircraft hangers where classic cars were stored. Another
800 were waiting to be restored and we enjoyed seeing the rusty textured Model T Fords in amazing detail.

Surrealism was next on Leo’s project on sets of photographs on a theme with Dali-esque surreal composite images of odd
illogical elements place together such as a rollercoaster to the moon, people walking to a new world and Poseidon watching
hot air balloons, his aim being that they may be thought provoking and encouraged discussion.

Spanish Eyes followed with shots taken at the Alhambra Palace, street photography and graffiti in Cordoba. He said that in
his opinion photographing graffiti is acceptable but it is preferable to introduce elements of your own to make it original. A
gargoyle, a death mask and face in high relief depicting departure, as St Pancras Station came under the heading of Faces
of London. Times Past brought us photographs of a ghost town, history frozen in time, and in Street Life with photographs
‘shot from the hip’ for discretion we saw Havana’s street girls. Natural History of Tanzania’s waterbuck, birds, buffalo and a
posing lion cub were followed by shots of armed rangers, Bushmen hunters and a Masai kindergarten.

To end his presentation Leo talked about Manzanar, California, which is widely know as the site of one of ten concentration
camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated after the bombing of Pearl Harbour during WW11. Stark
photographs of the camp and its inmates were a reminder of the darkest part of US history

A Q & A followed with Leo explaining his lengthy transition from film to digital photography which he didn’t trust to the point
that he placed film in his freezer as a reserve but after ten years he eventually became a convert. In his presentation Leo took
us to many places off the beaten track. Fascinating places that most of the audience had no knowledge of and, together with
very interesting commentary, he provided a most enjoyable evening at the club.

Glyn Trueman thanked Leo for showing us his excellent images and audio visual work after which coffee was enjoyed.

Steph.