David Southern ' The Coastline of Northumberland' - Tuesday 5th March 2024.

                             

On Tuesday 5th March, Morpeth Camera Club were pleased to welcome David Southern, an award-winning full-time
photographer who previously worked for the World Wildlife Fund and is now based in Northumberland. In 2022 David
published his first book ‘Shoreline – Intimate Landscapes of the Northumbrian Coast’, and we were looking forward to
seeing his high-quality images and hearing the story behind them.

David opened the evening by stating that his images were taken on the forty-mile stretch of coastline heading north
from Cresswell and that on this journey we would see detailed shots, rather than grand vistas of open space, big skies
or castles on rocky outcrops. This exercise involved many repeat visits and constant observation of the shoreline and
surrounding area to capture the ever-changing light and landscape, caused by time, tides and weather conditions.

Quality was the key he said, each image had to work individually and as part of the collection, and he wanted to try
and show a timeless feel, with little or no indication of scale or perspective, or recognisable location other than the
coast. David also explained that image titles were important and that although most of them were simple statements
relating to the scene, some were more wistful and evoked a memory or a feeling provided by the image.

What followed next was a stunning presentation by a skilled photographer, who led us through a world of discovery
using his vision to show us the often unseen and hidden world beneath our feet. Momentary video clips and brief audio
visual sequences complimented the individual and often unique images that captured the beauty of the natural world.
Kelp forests, the sea, pebbles, rock strata, shells, jellyfish, and sea birds were all recorded as he saw them, arranged
by nature with nothing added or removed.

This was a photographic artist's evening, a presentation of light, shape, form, texture, colour, imagination, and creativity,
we thank David for sharing this with us.

                     

Davy.