Club Meeting, 'Not Just Street Photography' - Tuesday 30th September 2025.

  

On Tuesday 30th September Morpeth Camera Club welcomed back one of its former members, John Willmore,
who gave a presentation entitled ‘Not Just Street Photography.' John described photography as a hobby and
this evening he showed us images that he likes and told us why he took them. He stressed that one must go
out and about and he illustrated this advice with images of trips taken in cities all over the country.

He prefers the square format and said that when composing an image, he looks for the square element in a
scene. He goes in search of interesting backgrounds, such a tiled underpass, shop window displays, hoardings,
and shutters in various states of repair. Very patiently he waits for someone to walk past, and by using slow
shutter speeds, which create motion blur, he creates very effective and interesting images with a sense of
movement. John does not take direct images of street art and street portraits; he places each subject within
their environment with a story telling quality.

His images include bright colours, linear patterns and symmetry together with considered use of negative space.
He concentrates on alternative views of well-known buildings such as the Glass House, Baltic, and Tyne bridges.
We enjoyed seeing street portraits, buskers, wall art painted on bricks and textured walls and brightly coloured
signage. Following on we saw symmetrical architecture at Wallington and Seaton Delaval in true monochrome
together with silhouettes of walkers in the rain, Newbiggin snow scenes, beached boats under big skies and a
Blyth Pier panorama.

John looks for simple shots creating space and emptiness but we also saw, in contrast, characters photographed
at protest marches, Miners’ Galas and festivals. John has the ability to portray shop signage and candid shots of
people, into graphic, interesting and amusing street photography. Throughout the evening John demonstrated his
passion for photographing everyday life, his insistence on perfect symmetry and most of all his patience.

He ended by quoting Sebastiao Salgado; among the most famous documentary photographer of the 20th century.
‘It’s more important for a photographer to have very good shoes then to have a very good camera’. Club Chairman,
Jeremy Cooper thanked John for an engaging and humorous tour around the country, after which refreshments
were enjoyed.

Steph.