Club Meeting, 40yrs in Professional Photography - Tuesday 8th October 2019.

                        

On Tuesday 8th October 2019, Neil Atkinson was the guest speaker at Morpeth Camera Club where he gave a
very interesting resume of his Forty Years in Photography. Tyneside based Neil has worked as a professional
photographer in the uk and abroad on a variety of industrial, commercial and editorial assignments. His work
has been published in magazines, brochures and newspapers around the world, and he can list many household
names as his clients. A highly qualified teacher, he is also a t.v. writer and presenter, and a much sought after
speaker and educator.

Neil opened his presentation with a monochrome print taken in 1964 at Allenheads in Northumberland. He
then revealed that it was the very first photograph he had taken, using his father's medium format Agfa Billy
camera whilst on a family holiday at the age of ten. He recalled that from this early age he knew that this
was what he wanted to do, and he still believes that he is very fortunate to make a living from what started
out as a hobby and became a passion. His humorous accounts of his first steps in photography kept the club
engrossed and included failed interviews, homemade flash guns and his use of an unusual piece of photographic
equipment which unfortunately led to him NOT photographing the queen.

English graphic designer and photographer Storm Elvin Thorgerson had been an early influence on Neil who
discussed some of his now iconic images that were made before digital imaging and photoshop manipulation,
this was a fascinating topic that would make a stand-alone talk on its own. During the evening the presenter
projected over two hundred of his own images that covered many subjects. He offered advice on composition,
lighting, exposure, and answered every question asked by the audience with honesty and clarity. It was clear
that he goes to great lengths in his planning and preparation to get the final image that he first envisaged.
Using image editing software in all of his work, Neil likes his photographs to tell a story and wants the viewer
to appreciate the beauty and interest in an image, not the effects or additions of photoshop.

Neil runs numerous courses and workshops covering all aspects of photography, his friendly and conversational
manner shone through during his presentation. He regularly speaks at camera clubs and other organisations but
accepts no financial reward and chooses to donate his fee to different charities that he supports. To close the
evening the speaker showed a thought-provoking set of images that showed his use of photography in murder
bereavement support and once again we saw another side to a skilled photographer. A sure sign of a good show
is when you suddenly realize that the time has passed without noticing and that was certainly the case on this
occasion, as club chairman John Barnes thanked Neil for an excellent evening.

Davy Bolam.