Virtual Meeting, Vice Chairs Challenge - Tuesday 2nd February 2021.
Morpeth Camera Club held a virtual meeting on Tuesday 2nd February at which the clubs’ Vice Chairs Roseanne
Robinson and Sue Dawson presented the results of their winter challenge on the theme of ‘Inspiration.’ For this
challenge members had been asked to submit and talk about four images that they had been inspired to produce.
The inspiration for these images could be from any source.
Roseanne opened the evening talking through her photographic beginnings, from initially taking courses to joining
Morpeth Camera Club. At meetings, on day trips and outings with the club she received help and encouragement
in a journey which helped her identify what genre of photography she would like to follow.
Jeremy Cooper followed by saying that he gained inspiration from learning new skills he had acquired from club
members. By using Photoshop, he learned to flip and rotate images to provide him with the ability to produce the
colourful, abstract, artistic side of photography he strives for. These skills have inspired him to replicate or put his
own stamp on illustrations, including postcards.
Stephanie Robson came next saying that she gained inspiration from attending club tutorials and from the guest
speakers’ presentations. Stating that she now has an appreciation for monochrome work Steph provided her own
versions of paintings and images inspired by Mark Rothko, Elliott Erwitt, and Henri-Cartier Bresson.
Karin Jackson provided images of her interpretation of Lockdown Spring. She prefers to use her own imagination
and style rather than take inspiration from others. Providing images of flowers taken on her daily walks, this has
encouraged her to look at everyday flora from different angles and a closer perspective.
Steve McDonald takes inspiration from taking random shots of people and also visiting the great outdoors. Showing
landscapes of the Isle of Skye, visiting a Greek monastery which he had seen featured in a James Bond movie, and
action shots of his son surfing off Druridge Bay had all inspired his kind of photography.
Illustrations in photographic magazines inspire Dave Bisset to visit these areas and create his own version of what
he has seen, he likes to use his post processing skills to age his images to replicate old monochrome photographs.
Glyn Trueman had been inspired by the learning process of taking infra-red photographs, providing us with four
different version of the same image to display the impact of this genre. In the search for new techniques, he has
been experimenting on graphic effects and unusual styles such as polar, distortion and flipping techniques as a
lockdown exercise.
Peter Downs gets his inspiration from emulating painters through his photography, using Piet Mondrian as an
example, Peter uses his own images of doors, locks, detritus and rocks at Lynemouth, to transform them into
geometric patterns and abstracts in bold colour.
Paul Appleby admires photographers such as Josef Sudek with his minimalist, still life work. We enjoyed seeing
Paul’s own versions of a lone pebble and a striking image of a decanter. We also enjoyed his images based on
Edward Weston’s work, whose aim is to ‘make the everyday unusual.
John Willmore loves street photography and is inspired by the work of Saul Leiter, Richard Kalvar, Jean-Claude
Gautrand and Henri -Cartier Bresson. John is well known in the club for his atmospheric, monochrome Paris
scenes and his gritty street potography; his goal is to emulate others in his own work.
Trudy Kepke’s work inspires Sue Dawson and she likes to experiment with textures to follow Trudy’s ‘Art through
the Lens.’ Also Steven le Provost for his composite scenes in the impressionist style, and we enjoyed seeing the
excellent examples of Sue’s work which echoed their style.
John Thompson concluded the evening by saying that looking back at his experiences, lots of little things had
inspired him. Having the sense of a dedicated time for photography and talking to others had provided a big
impetus to his work. His ideas and influences, he said, must have come from reading books on composition
and on others’ experiences of photography. He has been inspired by making his own books which, he says, is
an exercise in determining whether a photograph is good enough for inclusion, and from this decision-making
process, ideas grow. He finished with a quote from Elliott Erwitt: ‘It's just about seeing. You either see, or you
don't see. The rest is academic. Photography is simply a function of noticing things. Nothing more’.
Roseanne thanked everyone for their participation and contribution to a very interesting evening.
Robinson and Sue Dawson presented the results of their winter challenge on the theme of ‘Inspiration.’ For this
challenge members had been asked to submit and talk about four images that they had been inspired to produce.
The inspiration for these images could be from any source.
Roseanne opened the evening talking through her photographic beginnings, from initially taking courses to joining
Morpeth Camera Club. At meetings, on day trips and outings with the club she received help and encouragement
in a journey which helped her identify what genre of photography she would like to follow.
Jeremy Cooper followed by saying that he gained inspiration from learning new skills he had acquired from club
members. By using Photoshop, he learned to flip and rotate images to provide him with the ability to produce the
colourful, abstract, artistic side of photography he strives for. These skills have inspired him to replicate or put his
own stamp on illustrations, including postcards.
Stephanie Robson came next saying that she gained inspiration from attending club tutorials and from the guest
speakers’ presentations. Stating that she now has an appreciation for monochrome work Steph provided her own
versions of paintings and images inspired by Mark Rothko, Elliott Erwitt, and Henri-Cartier Bresson.
Karin Jackson provided images of her interpretation of Lockdown Spring. She prefers to use her own imagination
and style rather than take inspiration from others. Providing images of flowers taken on her daily walks, this has
encouraged her to look at everyday flora from different angles and a closer perspective.
Steve McDonald takes inspiration from taking random shots of people and also visiting the great outdoors. Showing
landscapes of the Isle of Skye, visiting a Greek monastery which he had seen featured in a James Bond movie, and
action shots of his son surfing off Druridge Bay had all inspired his kind of photography.
Illustrations in photographic magazines inspire Dave Bisset to visit these areas and create his own version of what
he has seen, he likes to use his post processing skills to age his images to replicate old monochrome photographs.
Glyn Trueman had been inspired by the learning process of taking infra-red photographs, providing us with four
different version of the same image to display the impact of this genre. In the search for new techniques, he has
been experimenting on graphic effects and unusual styles such as polar, distortion and flipping techniques as a
lockdown exercise.
Peter Downs gets his inspiration from emulating painters through his photography, using Piet Mondrian as an
example, Peter uses his own images of doors, locks, detritus and rocks at Lynemouth, to transform them into
geometric patterns and abstracts in bold colour.
Paul Appleby admires photographers such as Josef Sudek with his minimalist, still life work. We enjoyed seeing
Paul’s own versions of a lone pebble and a striking image of a decanter. We also enjoyed his images based on
Edward Weston’s work, whose aim is to ‘make the everyday unusual.
John Willmore loves street photography and is inspired by the work of Saul Leiter, Richard Kalvar, Jean-Claude
Gautrand and Henri -Cartier Bresson. John is well known in the club for his atmospheric, monochrome Paris
scenes and his gritty street potography; his goal is to emulate others in his own work.
Trudy Kepke’s work inspires Sue Dawson and she likes to experiment with textures to follow Trudy’s ‘Art through
the Lens.’ Also Steven le Provost for his composite scenes in the impressionist style, and we enjoyed seeing the
excellent examples of Sue’s work which echoed their style.
John Thompson concluded the evening by saying that looking back at his experiences, lots of little things had
inspired him. Having the sense of a dedicated time for photography and talking to others had provided a big
impetus to his work. His ideas and influences, he said, must have come from reading books on composition
and on others’ experiences of photography. He has been inspired by making his own books which, he says, is
an exercise in determining whether a photograph is good enough for inclusion, and from this decision-making
process, ideas grow. He finished with a quote from Elliott Erwitt: ‘It's just about seeing. You either see, or you
don't see. The rest is academic. Photography is simply a function of noticing things. Nothing more’.
Roseanne thanked everyone for their participation and contribution to a very interesting evening.