Club Meeting, 'The Year before the New Normal' - Tuesday 4th January 2022.
For our first meeting in 2022 Morpeth Camera Club welcomed guest speaker Margaret Warren, a long time
member of Tynemouth Photographic Society and currently their projected image competition secretary. Her
presentation entitled The Year before the New Normal included stories and photographs when on her travels
to Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in 2019.
She began by explaining the history of Kazakhstan and its past links with Russia before seeing images of its
new capital Astana, a surprisingly modern 20th century city with its stunning Peace Palace designed by Sir
Norman Foster, sparkling mosques, the Palace of Independence and National Museum. The city, surrounded
by snow capped mountains was sparsely populated except in trading areas such as markets with colourful
fruits, strange vegetables, and horse meat products.
On the road to the Chinese border we saw barren landscapes dotted with camels grazing, travelling through
strange rock formations to Shymket with its Independence Memorial, to the ghost town of Otrar, and then to
the Mausoleum of Arystan Bab with its glazed mosaic tiles and turquoise tiled dome. Then onward to nearby
Kyrgyzstan which in contrast to Kazakhstan is a less affluent area, with old trolley buses, on street cobblers,
market stalls and rustic rural villages. Margaret described having a meal with a local household and provided
anecdotes of the tour bus breaking down in 30 deg heat, concluding with landscapes of this amazing region
with its red soil and dramatic rock formations shaped by wind erosion.
Then Margaret took us on a photographic trip to Jordan; firstly to the Jerash ruins of Jordan, said to be the
best preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy, with Images of Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Zeus, the cobbled
plaza and arena. Included were Images of medieval settlements, townships and Crusader castles. A visit to
the ancient city of Petra on the trade route from Damascus to Arabia followed.
Together with a potted history of Petra we saw images of the approach through clefts in the rock, to reveal
the honeycomb of hand-hewn caves, temples and tombs carved from pink sandstone. Margaret captured
patterns of the tomb interiors in reds, purples, blacks and blues, and of the Treasury, in the soft glow of
dawn, and when the site was veiled in golden sunset hues. Anecdotes followed of a donkey ride to higher
ground, of tea sellers and spinners, and locals offering the ‘best ledges’ from which to photograph the valley.
A visit to Wadi Rum or Valley of the Moon concluded Margaret’s presentation, with images of the huge rock
formations, gorges, arches and vibrant red sand dunes, travelling on to the Dead Sea with its salt formed
cauliflower-shaped creations which contrasted with the azure coloured waters.
Club co-chair Sue Dawson thanked Margaret for her fascinating talk, after which refreshments were served.
Steph.
member of Tynemouth Photographic Society and currently their projected image competition secretary. Her
presentation entitled The Year before the New Normal included stories and photographs when on her travels
to Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in 2019.
She began by explaining the history of Kazakhstan and its past links with Russia before seeing images of its
new capital Astana, a surprisingly modern 20th century city with its stunning Peace Palace designed by Sir
Norman Foster, sparkling mosques, the Palace of Independence and National Museum. The city, surrounded
by snow capped mountains was sparsely populated except in trading areas such as markets with colourful
fruits, strange vegetables, and horse meat products.
On the road to the Chinese border we saw barren landscapes dotted with camels grazing, travelling through
strange rock formations to Shymket with its Independence Memorial, to the ghost town of Otrar, and then to
the Mausoleum of Arystan Bab with its glazed mosaic tiles and turquoise tiled dome. Then onward to nearby
Kyrgyzstan which in contrast to Kazakhstan is a less affluent area, with old trolley buses, on street cobblers,
market stalls and rustic rural villages. Margaret described having a meal with a local household and provided
anecdotes of the tour bus breaking down in 30 deg heat, concluding with landscapes of this amazing region
with its red soil and dramatic rock formations shaped by wind erosion.
Then Margaret took us on a photographic trip to Jordan; firstly to the Jerash ruins of Jordan, said to be the
best preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy, with Images of Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Zeus, the cobbled
plaza and arena. Included were Images of medieval settlements, townships and Crusader castles. A visit to
the ancient city of Petra on the trade route from Damascus to Arabia followed.
Together with a potted history of Petra we saw images of the approach through clefts in the rock, to reveal
the honeycomb of hand-hewn caves, temples and tombs carved from pink sandstone. Margaret captured
patterns of the tomb interiors in reds, purples, blacks and blues, and of the Treasury, in the soft glow of
dawn, and when the site was veiled in golden sunset hues. Anecdotes followed of a donkey ride to higher
ground, of tea sellers and spinners, and locals offering the ‘best ledges’ from which to photograph the valley.
A visit to Wadi Rum or Valley of the Moon concluded Margaret’s presentation, with images of the huge rock
formations, gorges, arches and vibrant red sand dunes, travelling on to the Dead Sea with its salt formed
cauliflower-shaped creations which contrasted with the azure coloured waters.
Club co-chair Sue Dawson thanked Margaret for her fascinating talk, after which refreshments were served.
Steph.