RPS 159th Print Exhibition - Taunton

I went to the RPS Print Exhibition 159 yesterday as it toured the provinces.  It was displayed in the Museum of Somerset building with all 100 prints on display.  My main criticism was that all the eclectic images, and they were so diverse, were displayed with reflective glass.  I was looking at one row of prints only to find that the row on the opposite row were reflected in the image I was studying. I could also see the reflection of anyone who was studying those images.

You can see from the above image how bad it was.  Each of the 100 images had the same problem.  Luckily I went when it wasn't very busy but if there were large numbers of viewers it could spoil it for everyone.

On the other hand I found that, for once, I could agree with the Gold Medal image of Alice by Carolyn Mendelsohn which was quite delightful.  I very often can't understand why such a picture would be awarded a winning place but this one is entrancing.

Carolyn MendelsohnCarolyne

Carolyn Mendelsohn

(c) Alice by Carolyn Mendelsohn

There were the inevitable pictures that I found quite incomprehensible and I found I was in accordance with the photographers who had accompanied me to Taunton.

Here's a couple of prints from the 'also ran' images which I could enjoy.  About 10% were completely incomprehensible.

On the whole I enjoyed the visit as I was also able to visit the Sisters in Song being exhibited in the Rebellion basement gallery.

This was interesting as a photographer called Cecil Sharp went round the county taking pictures of Women Folk Singers.  Cecil, a London-based music teacher, began collecting Somerset folk songs in August 1903. This exhibition tells the story of the Somerset women who provided Sharp with hundreds of folks songs. It includes a selection of photographs provided by the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, English Folk Dance and Song Society.

RPS Travelling Print Exhibition 159

As a member of the RPS I've had an invitation to the opening of the Travelling Exhibition to be held at the Museum of Somerset in Taunton.  It runs from 14 Jan - 11 March 2017.

I don't think I'll make it to the private view as that's in the evening and it's more than an hour's drive from Lyme Regis but I'll certainly visit it during the day.  Three members of my camera club and I have been travelling round during the summer to catch as many open studios, etc, in the localities nearby.  We'll probably go together at a mutually convenient date to check it out and see what else the museum has on show.

 

Catch up

It's been a lean time for photographic exhibitions around this part of Dorset and East Devon for the past few of months but I've found one or two that could be very interesting.

The first one, on February 7th 2017, is a presentation about a Dorset photographer, Helen Muspratt (1907-2001).  Helen was born in India in 1907 and travelled to England to settle in Swanage, Dorset.  The family were frequently photographed by Constance Ellis in Guildford who inspired Helen to take up photography as a career. The artistic community in Purbeck, who included the retired head of the Glasgow School of Art, Fra Newbery encouraged Helen to study photography at the Regent’s Street Polytechnic.  She based herself mainly in Oxford and was well known for her portrait photography.

Triple self portrait, solarised c 1932 (Helen Muspratt)

This illustrated talk is given by her daughter, Jessica Sutcliffe who has just published a book about her mother's work - Face: Shape and Angle.

Pauline Rook, Professional photographer - open studio

Pauline is a professionally qualified photographer, living and working in Somerset. She specializes in portraiture but is equally well known for her rural documentary work. She has won many professional awards as well as appeared on the BBC Countryfile. Pauline’s principle passion continues to be working in the rural community in which she lives and has spent a lot of time roaming the Blackdown Hills.  Her work is very similar to that of James Ravilious who spent many years from 1939-1999 photographing farms and farmers around Devon on behalf of Beaford Arts.

Here beow is Pauline on the last day of the Somerset Open Studios week.  She is holding up one of her portraits of a local farmer who had agreed for her to take his picture.  What scared her was that he took her into his kitchen and proceeded to lock the door after her.  It all turned out okay as he just wanted to stop his animals straying into the kitchen and unlocked the door when she had finished.

Pauline Rook in her temporary studio

 

 Both images are (c) Pauline Rook 

Pauline will be showing some of her rural documentary collection at the Open Studio event in Somerset until October 3rd.  There will be some of her recent pictures taken at the sale of White Vine Farm, recent flower studies and outside some of the canvases which made up the first show at the Museum of Somerset.

Dorset Arts and Crafts Exhibition 2016

The Dorset Arts and Crafts Exhibition is held annually in Wareham at the Purbeck School, utilising the whole school building to allow enough room to show all the exhibits at their best.

The exhibition itself had various categories including photography, original art, quilting and many other crafts.   It even included woodworking and metal work.

The photography section was my main area of interest, even though I covered the whole side looking at some most stunning craftwork.  It looked like the whole of the Dorchester Camera Club had entered work, as there were many names that I recognised having had contact with them in the past.  The pictures were wide ranging including wildlife & nature, land or seascape, monochrome, creative and an open award.  The public were allowed to vote for their favourite image over all the categories and the winner was announced at the close of the whole exhibition.

Dorset Art Weeks

One of the great things about living in the South West, ie, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, means that there are always 'arty' things going on.  Lyme Regis is already preparing for its ArtsFest in September by laying out art trails of sculptures by local artists.

We, in Dorset, also have Dorset Art Weeks - this year from May 28th to June 12th where you can visit exhibitions, artists' studios and various other art locations around the county.

http://www.dorsetartweeks.co.uk/http://www.dorsetartweeks.co.uk/

I'm looking forward to visiting some of the venues next week where visitors can experience a varied collection of painting, printmaking, textiles and photography together with sculpture in the gardens from over 15 local artists.  They include night photography by Stephen Banks.  Stephen has been to my local camera club and explained how he creates his amazing night sky photography.  It's absolutely stunning.

WCPF (Western Counties Photographic Federation) Members’ Exhibition 2016

This exhibition is one of the highlights of the WCPF’s year where 100+ of the best print images and a showing of all accepted images were on display for two weeks in May. 

I went with three other members of my camera club went to Buckfast Abbey yesterday (May 12^th) and enjoyed a wide range of images of all subjects. The WCPF award gold, silver and bronze medals to the images they consider the best in various categories.  There was also a display of 130+ images on a loop, the majority of which were superb.  

It’s certainly an eye opener to view such amazing images, especially when you can identify with some of the photographers and we all came away highly impressed with what we saw.

Exhibition - Science Museum - Drawn by Light

December 3rd
I've managed to secure a place on the OCA study day at the Science Museum on Saturday, December 6th, for the much talked about exhibition 'Drawn by Light'.  It's been featured on the BBC Breakfast programme and The Guardian is running a series of articles daily about featured work here.  The WeAreOCA link about the show is here .  

To quote from the OCA blurb 'From serene landscapes to exquisite nudes, this new exhibition brings together over 200 extraordinary highlights from the collection of the world’s oldest surviving photographic society, by some of the greatest names in photography.

Visitors can see some of the earliest known photographic images dating back to the 1820s, by pioneers of photography such as Roger Fenton, William Henry Fox Talbot and Julia Margaret Cameron, alongside contemporary works by some of modern photography’s most influential figures, such as Don McCullin, Terry O’Neill and Martin Parr'.

Whilst the journey up to London is long (3 hours at best) I can't wait to join the other students to view such a wide variety of images from the beginning of photography.

Landscape Photographer of the Year 2013

Yesterday I was prividged to see the final pictures for Landscape Photographer 2013.  The exhibition of approximately 30/40 images were on show at the Moors Valley Country Park in their reception area.  Copyright doesn't allow me to show the images but you can click here to see the stunning results.

it's always inspiring to see the best of others successful work and lifts the spirit at the diversity of the subjects.  There were one or two pictures that were not of my favourite genre but all the others were absolutely stunning.  It was well worth the 3/4 hour journey to view them.