THE WIDER WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY
06th October 2025
The club welcomed Ashley Franklin with his interpretation of The Wider World of Photography. Ashley has visited on a number of occasions, the most recent as a judge. He also ‘visits’ annually as the voice of the N&EMPF exhibition which we receive as members of the Federation and enjoy viewing at one of our meetings.
Ashley described how his presentation would be looking at photographers who have inspired, entertained, informed and, above all, moved him. Inevitably this is a vast topic and at present there are two parts to the work. We will be seeing the second in March and we were informed that a third is in preparation.
As a way to tackle such a vast body of work, Ashley had elected to choose several genres to look at in this first show. We saw his take on Portraiture, Fashion, Photojournalism, Street Photography, Industrial, Travel and finally War.
Ashley had found a photo of the studio operated by WW Winter in his home city of Derby, which is the oldest in the world still in business. He could not look at portraiture without a mention of the Cottingley Fairies, and he gave us an insight into things happening in the late 1850s, very soon after the development of photography. We saw the first real portrait, which showed a less formal style. The subject was Isambard Kingdom Brunel standing in a surprisingly casual pose in front of huge chains to give a nod to his area of expertise.
We also saw an early composite image. This was a lesson to anyone who feels their computer is slow. It consisted of 32 images and in 1857 it took six weeks to create.
We learned that Karsh was a very influential portrait photographer. He was commissioned to produce a statesmanlike portrait of Winston Churchill in response to the striking portraits of Hitler and Mussolini which were appearing as propaganda. Karsh created the dynamic and purposeful expression in his famous Churchill portrait by instinctively removing the sitter’s famous cigar! The reaction that provoked worked wonders. A second shot taken shortly after became a family favourite showing a much more avuncular expression.
Karsh introduced the way of relaxing the sitters by getting them chatting and revealing something of themselves and using natural and theatrical lighting. He in his turn influenced others, including Cecil Beaton, famous as a royal photographer.
In fashion there are many well known names. Irving Penn worked for Vogue for many years and created a style with a plain white background which earned him a number of his record 165 covers.
In contrast Norman Parkinson preferred outdoor shots in exotic locations which were spontaneous and showed movement. Most of us are old enough to remember the image of a pregnant Demi Moore which spawned a whole industry of pregnancy photography. We also knew the work of Snowdon with the Royal Family and Lewis Morley’s shot of Christine Keeler.
There was rather a cross over between photojournalism and war. The demise of the Hindenburg made for dramatic photos while some from the time of ‘The Troubles’ in Belfast were a reminder of those awful times. Public sympathy was evoked for humanitarian causes when photographers began to send back shots from the famine sites in Africa, the Vietnam war; the twin towers and the after effects of the Indonesian tsunami.
War photography began in Victorian times when very little real action was shown, so as not to offend readers. Shots of soldiers going over the top at the Somme changed this permanently. By the time of the Vietnam war the impact of photography on the ground began to make a difference to attitudes and responses.
Street photography can be dramatic and requires a good eye and quick response in a different way. This technique was summed up as ‘F8 and be there’. It can also produce work of historical interest and importance.
We have introduced joint meetings with Bolsover Camera Club this year and the next meeting will feature a presentation from them, mostly in the form of prints.
You can find us in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford at 7.30pm On Monday nights until 8th December 2025 when we break for Christmas.. Our web site: www.retford-photographic.co.uk is the place to look for more information about the club. Feel free to drop us a line if you would like us to look out for you when you arrive.
Ashley described how his presentation would be looking at photographers who have inspired, entertained, informed and, above all, moved him. Inevitably this is a vast topic and at present there are two parts to the work. We will be seeing the second in March and we were informed that a third is in preparation.
As a way to tackle such a vast body of work, Ashley had elected to choose several genres to look at in this first show. We saw his take on Portraiture, Fashion, Photojournalism, Street Photography, Industrial, Travel and finally War.
Ashley had found a photo of the studio operated by WW Winter in his home city of Derby, which is the oldest in the world still in business. He could not look at portraiture without a mention of the Cottingley Fairies, and he gave us an insight into things happening in the late 1850s, very soon after the development of photography. We saw the first real portrait, which showed a less formal style. The subject was Isambard Kingdom Brunel standing in a surprisingly casual pose in front of huge chains to give a nod to his area of expertise.
We also saw an early composite image. This was a lesson to anyone who feels their computer is slow. It consisted of 32 images and in 1857 it took six weeks to create.
We learned that Karsh was a very influential portrait photographer. He was commissioned to produce a statesmanlike portrait of Winston Churchill in response to the striking portraits of Hitler and Mussolini which were appearing as propaganda. Karsh created the dynamic and purposeful expression in his famous Churchill portrait by instinctively removing the sitter’s famous cigar! The reaction that provoked worked wonders. A second shot taken shortly after became a family favourite showing a much more avuncular expression.
Karsh introduced the way of relaxing the sitters by getting them chatting and revealing something of themselves and using natural and theatrical lighting. He in his turn influenced others, including Cecil Beaton, famous as a royal photographer.
In fashion there are many well known names. Irving Penn worked for Vogue for many years and created a style with a plain white background which earned him a number of his record 165 covers.
In contrast Norman Parkinson preferred outdoor shots in exotic locations which were spontaneous and showed movement. Most of us are old enough to remember the image of a pregnant Demi Moore which spawned a whole industry of pregnancy photography. We also knew the work of Snowdon with the Royal Family and Lewis Morley’s shot of Christine Keeler.
There was rather a cross over between photojournalism and war. The demise of the Hindenburg made for dramatic photos while some from the time of ‘The Troubles’ in Belfast were a reminder of those awful times. Public sympathy was evoked for humanitarian causes when photographers began to send back shots from the famine sites in Africa, the Vietnam war; the twin towers and the after effects of the Indonesian tsunami.
War photography began in Victorian times when very little real action was shown, so as not to offend readers. Shots of soldiers going over the top at the Somme changed this permanently. By the time of the Vietnam war the impact of photography on the ground began to make a difference to attitudes and responses.
Street photography can be dramatic and requires a good eye and quick response in a different way. This technique was summed up as ‘F8 and be there’. It can also produce work of historical interest and importance.
We have introduced joint meetings with Bolsover Camera Club this year and the next meeting will feature a presentation from them, mostly in the form of prints.
You can find us in St Joseph’s Hall, Babworth Road, Retford at 7.30pm On Monday nights until 8th December 2025 when we break for Christmas.. Our web site: www.retford-photographic.co.uk is the place to look for more information about the club. Feel free to drop us a line if you would like us to look out for you when you arrive.