Big Event, 'Changing Perspectives' - Tuesday 8th November 2022.

      

On Tuesday 8th November, Morpeth Camera Club held their Annual 'Big Event' and were delighted to welcome
Kathryn J Scorah, MPAGB, FBPE, EFIAP, with her presentation entitled ‘Changing Perspectives'. Kathryn is an
international award winning photographer, who combines the Seeing Eye with her Photoshop skills to create
stunning fantasy images full of emotion with strong narratives.

Kathryn opened the evening with a short history of how she got into photography, the photographers she met
along the way and her introduction into the digital world. So determined was she to master Photoshop that after
a few weeks she had produced her own composite pictures of characters placed in unusual or unlikely settings.
She then went on to develop her own post-processing techniques including the use of blending modes, layer
masks and bas-relief effects. By entering competitions, watching photographic judges and presenting her work
in exhibitions, she said, had all contributed to her success in photography.

Amusing anecdotes of trips to Scotland in winter were illustrated with glowing hoar-frosted trees and sweeping
snowy landscapes and were followed by useful suggestions on how to achieve mood and atmosphere into ones
work. Her brilliant use of light was evident in her Lake District lake reflections, autumnal forests, bluebell woods
and silver birch trees. When the weather is really bad one can always turn to still life, she said, and went on to
show examples of delicate fading flowers and graphic images of hats and shoes.

After a short interval Kathryn showed the audience images for which she is better known and for which she has
been awarded medals. This is work over which she had ultimate control, in finding backgrounds to suit her subject
such as an old railway carriage with a soldier returning from war, spectators impossibly close to massive waves,
and a World War One nurse in the middle of moorland; all images with a story to tell. These composite images
are always connected in some way, usually by a colour which recurs within the scene.

Before and after images revealed that a mundane subject can be transformed by replacing skies, by deleting
unwanted objects, introducing other characters and placing light just where she wants it to be. We enjoyed
anecdotes of Goths, steam punks and colourful characters which she has approached with the view of taking
their photograph to be used within another context, to tell a story and to have a narrative. Fantasy landscapes,
telephone kiosks sinking in sand, Dali-esque creations, and a girl seemingly floating on rocky shores were
among the many examples of her vivid imagination.

Kathryn stated that when she is taking a photograph she likes to be able to visualise the end result and capture
the emotion she wants to convey to the viewer. To conclude her presentation we saw images taken in the Outer
Hebrides of derelict croft interiors, of detritus and a sense of abandonment that certainly captured the mood
and emotion she strives for. Co Chair Sue Dawson thanked Kathryn for her absorbing talk after which the
audience were able to view a large selection of her prints.